**Exhibit 31.1**

 

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

 

I, Jan L. Murley, Chief Executive Officer of The Boyds Collection, Ltd.(the “Company”), certify that:

 

1.             Ihave reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of The Boyds Collection, Ltd.;

 

2.             Basedon my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of amaterial fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statementsmade, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.             Basedon my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial informationincluded in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for,the periods presented in this report;

 

4.             TheCompany’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing andmaintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (asdefined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f))for the Company and wehave:

 

a)             Designedsuch disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure control andprocedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that materialinformation relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries,is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during theperiod in which this report is being prepared;

 

b)                                     Designed such internal control over financialreporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to bedesigned under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding thereliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statementsfor external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accountingprinciples;

 

c)             Evaluatedthe effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures andpresented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of thedisclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by thisreport based on such evaluation, and

 

d)            Disclosedin this report any change in the Company’s internal control over financialreporting that occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter thathas materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, theCompany’s internal control over financial reporting; and

 

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5.             TheCompany’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our mostrecent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to theCompany’s auditors and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors(or persons performing the equivalent functions):

 

a)             Allsignificant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation ofinternal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely toadversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and reportfinancial information; and

 

b)            Anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees whohave a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financialreporting.

 

 
| /s/ Jan L. Murley       |   |
|-------------------------|--------|
| Jan L. Murley           |
| Chief Executive Officer |
| Date: November 14, 2003 |

 

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