With education being such an important tool, IMA Hero has developed a superior plush line that will entertain your youngster while educating them at the same time.
IMA Hero™ Collection
is distributed by StarRise Creations. StarRise Creations and founded
in 1999 to create fun products to educate and inspire people of
all ages. Their goal is to design educational tools for people
to learn while they are having fun.
Their first product line celebrates important people in the past
1,000 years who have made a positive contribution to society.
As we enter a new millennium, IMA Hero™ Collection looks
back on important achievers of the last millennium.
With all product lines
there are bound to be a few favorites. My favorites are as follows:
Florence Nightingale - This adorable
bear is white with a red heart on the chest and is sporting a
nursing hat.
I am particular found of the bear for a couple of reasons. My
son has asthma and every year I have the difficult task of trying
to locate an appropriate gift for the school nurse.
Florence is appropriate and would be a welcoming gift for any
medical caregiver.
I
am also fond of William Shakespeare. William is a teal colored
bear wearing a white collar; he is the only bear in the line with
a collar accessory.
His colors are vibrant and he represents an important time in
history and in theatre.
Last
but not least Benjamin Franklin is another favorite, lets face
it, without good old Ben we would all be in the dark.
Ben has been designed in a raspberry color and wears a kite on
his chest.
All of the designs have been cleverly selected and are all winners! The plush material is soft, the colors are vibrant and their price is reasonable.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathy Malowney from IMA Hero and would like to share my findings.
Q: When did you
start your company?
A: I started the company, StarRise Creations, in 1999. The offices
are located in San Diego, California.
Q: Why did you
start StarRise Creations?
A: I started StarRise Creations to create fun products to educate
and inspire people of all ages. Our goal is to design educational
tools for people to learn while they are having fun.
Q: What products
have you developed?
A: The first product line is the IMA Hero™ Collection. It
is a line of teddy bears that celebrates important people in the
past 1,000 years who have made a positive contribution to society.
Q: What does
IMA stand for?
A: IMA stands for Important Millennium Achievers. As we enter
a new millennium, the IMA Hero™ Collection looks back on
important achievers of the last millennium.
Q: How do the
teddy bears represent the historical people?
A: Each bear has an embroidered logo on its chest that represents
something about the person's life. For example, Thomas Alva Edison
has a light bulb on his chest because he invented the light bulb.
Also, the bear comes with a hang tag which gives information about
that person's life.
Q: How can a
person learn more about the historical people?
A: Our web site at http://www.imahero.com has additional information
about each person. One page talks about the person's life, and
another page discusses the times in which that person lived.
Q: Will I get
bored while reading this information?
A: We hope not. We present the information at an introductory
level. The biographies are full of interesting information and
written at the 4th grade level. This way, people of all ages will
be encouraged to learn about the person.
Q: How will you
expand your product line?
A: The IMA Hero™ Collection will release additional series
of bears to
continue celebrating other great achievers. Also, we are working
on books, games, and activities to go along with the teddy bears.
Q: How did you
select the first series of bears?
A: We chose people who have made a positive contribution to society.
They represent different nationalities, occupations, and time
periods.
Q: Are you looking
for suggestions for other people to add to your product line?
A: Yes. We welcome any suggestions people may have about who they
think should be added to our line of teddy bears. We have a "Who's
Your Hero?" page on our web site at http://www.imahero.com
where people can submit their hero.
Q: How do you
define "a hero?"
A: The IMA Hero™ Collection has chosen well-known people
for its first series. However, heroes do not have to be famous
people. Heroes can come in different shapes and sizes. A hero
can be a relative, teacher, coach, or friend. It is up to each
person to chose their own heroes.
Q: Who is your
hero?
A: My hero is my older brother, Mike. We've always been close
friends. Now he is a father of 2 girls (Madison and Shelby), and
they have a very close relationship too.
Q: Do you consider
the first series of heroes to be the most important people of
the last millennium?
A: No. The IMA Hero™ Collection does not rank the importance
of achievers. Different people are important for different reasons.
We provide people with information about each person and let them
decide the importance for themselves.
Retail Stores say:
"The IMA Hero™ bears are very cute."
Barbara Williams, Owner
Spare Hands Craft & Gift Shop
Milton, Pennsylvania
"StarRise Creations
is a great company. Its No Minimum Policy allowed us to try the
IMA Hero™ bears to see how it worked. I knew it was a good
quality product, and I was very pleased to see how fast it really
did sell."
Ken Johns, Buyer
Edison-Ford Winter Estates
Fort Myers, Florida
"The IMA Hero™
bears send a positive message as they remind us there are heroes
out there! They have been very enthusiastically received by both
staff and customers alike here at the Fleet Center."
Kathy Loder, Buyer
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
San Diego, California
"StarRise Creations
is a wonderful company to work with. The IMA Hero™ bears
are a good product for hospital gift stores."
Kris Coxsey, Manager-Buyer
Pomerado Hospital
Poway, California
*************************
What
Customers are saying:
"My 7 year old son salutes the IMA Hero™ Robert E. Lee
bear before going
to bed."
John Quarstein
Newport News, Virginia
"When I saw the
IMA Hero™ bears, I thought they were cute. When I saw my
4 year old son playing with the bears, I realized how much he
can learn from them. He takes what he learns at home with the
Galileo and Columbus bears and connects it with what he learns
in preschool about the earth, moon, and sun."
Pilar Gomariz
San Diego, California
The IMA Hero website
if eye appealing, fun and challenging. I highly recommend you
visit it and take a look around.
Thank you to the good folks at IMA Hero for allowing me to interview
them and share a very special part of their world.
