IAmElemental

Toy Fair 2016: IAmElemental Bestows Wisdom On Its Second Series
Toy Fair 2016: IAmElemental Bestows Wisdom On Its Second Series
Toy Fair 2016: IAmElemental Bestows Wisdom On Its Second Series
Last year, IAmElemental burst onto the scene with its empowering line of action figures designed specifically to address the lack of female figures on shelves. Successfully kickstarted in 2014, the first line was themed around Courage, and featured heroes like Bravery, Honesty and Persistence, all of which were elements based around the "muse," Joan of Arc. The carefully-curated set was aesthetically appealing, undeniably imaginative, and showed that there are still plenty of great ideas for unique action figures if you've got the right inspiration. We've known Wisdom would be the 2016 follow-up series to Courage, but at this year's Toy Fair, we got our first official look at the latest elemental warriors. The second line's muse is Hypatia, a Greek mathematician who was also a philosopher, astronomer and was head of the Neoplatonic school in great city of Alexandria. Or as IAmElemental's creator, Julie Kerwin, lovingly refers to her, "a STEM superstar before STEM existed."
 Julie Kerwin Talks 'IAmElemental' and Empowerment for Girls
Julie Kerwin Talks 'IAmElemental' and Empowerment for Girls
Julie Kerwin Talks 'IAmElemental' and Empowerment for Girls
The great thing about Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites is the ability for creators to fill a void with a product or project they're incredibly passionate about. More and more, we're seeing niche action figure and collectible creators turn to this method to get their ideas out there. It's a hard road to commercial success at retail, but if you can reach out directly to your audience, there's a chance you'll make some headway towards bigger things and wider availability. Seeing a hole in the action figure market for not just female characters, but female characters more representative of real women, IAmElemental campaigned to bring such a series to life. After a successful round of crowdfunding in 2014, the company released its first line-up, Courage, this year. We caught up with Julie Kerwin, chief elemental officer at IamElemental, at New York Comic Con to talk about the line, where it's headed, and whether or not it can succeed in a crowded market.