We were recently requested to pull the age data on the IFPA player base over time and found that information interesting enough to share.

The question being . . . is competitive pinball successfully finding that next generation of players?

We ran these numbers based on IFPA Player ID number. These numbers are assigned after a player participates in their first IFPA sanctioned event. It will be interesting to follow this statistic for the years to come. For those that haven’t updated their IFPA profile to include their age, you can do that at your convenience HERE.

The IFPA + Stern Army Foo Fighters Global Leaderboards are here!

Find the nearest Insider Connected Foo Fighters machine and test yourself on this special month-long Leaderboard from December 1st through the 31st.

Courtesy of the IFPA, the top (4) scores on the Verified Location Leaderboard will win prizes! The IFPA is also awarding prizes to (4) random players on the Global Leaderboard just for participating.

Log in with your Insider Connected account and play at home or on location to climb the ranks, follow the action, and see who’ll emerge victorious.

The majority of the more than 1500 games in this book are arranged chronologically, circa 1931-2023, for a fun stroll through pinball history! There are also searches for the names of many of the manufacturers and people who brought us these games. The very last pages contain an alphabetical tear-out checklist of the titles in this book that can be used to track games you’ve played or would like to play, own, or learn.

The author is a pinball player and puzzle constructor whose crosswords have appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. This is her second pinball themed puzzle book (the first is 101 Pinball Puzzles) dedicated to the sport, the machines, and the companies & people who make the games.

Here’s a link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNGQFRSC

As we come to the end of another year, the 2023 season brings the changeover to our WPPR v6.0 system. Details on the WPPR v6.0 changes can be found HERE. The 2024 season also brings us some additional challenges with the IFPA sanctioning fee expanding to include Women’s only events held in North America.

In order to close the books on 2023, we ask any organizer with open tournament results to submit those to us by Thursday, January 4th. Furthermore, any corrections to player misspellings, incorrect results, improper scoring issues, etc., need to be addressed by January 4th as well. Please take some time to review your own personal results to see if anything looks out of place.

Our plan is to lock down 2023 rankings on January 4th, and use the standings at that time for any IFPA-related campaigns (IFPA19 World Championship qualifications, IFPA Women’s World Championship, Stern Rewards Program, Player of the Year, etc.). Any errors caught after that point in time will NOT impact the 2023 standings, although those changes will be reflected in the 2024 rankings going forward.

The 2024 season brings with it the start of qualifying for the following IFPA campaigns:
– IFPA North American Championship Series
– IFPA Women’s North American Championship Series
– IFPA European Championship Series
– any IFPA Country Championship Series
– IFPA20 World Pinball Championship
– IFPA Women’s World Pinball Championship
– Stern Pro Circuit (2024 season)

Any questions please contact us at ifpapinball@gmail.com, and remember that if your profile doesn’t say ‘Registered’ with a green check mark, that we do NOT have your email address on file. Players that don’t have their profile ‘Registered’ are ineligible to participate in any IFPA Championship Series.

With the North American Championship Series (NACS) and Women’s North American Championship Series (WNACS) planned for January 20th and 21st, 2024 respectively, registration process is going to be fast. Players will have until the end of January 7th, 8pm CST to declare the State/Province they wish to compete in. Contact your IFPA State Representative to make sure you are registered for the state you wish to play in. Contact the IFPA Women’s Advisory Board at ifpawomen@gmail.com for questions on the WNACS.

Here are the October 2023 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Carlos Delaserda from Columbus, OH (521.37 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Jane Verwys from the Chicago, IL (76.27 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Chris Campbell from San Francisco, CA (+34,375 spots)
Richard Cornell from Sharon, PA (+20,745 spots)
Phillip Hall from Knoxville, TN (+20,335 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2023. Congrats to everyone!

sponsored blog post

Jonny Fairplay changed the game of Survivor.

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“Wouldn’t the world be better off if we took nonsense more seriously?”

These are the words of the late Marvin Yagoda, who (Using this philosophy) set out to create the largest collection or animatronic machines and staright up wacky things. Being founded in the early 80’s in the (now defunct) Tally Hall in Farmington Hills Michigan, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum not only stands as a monument to all things silly and goofy, but as a testament to Yagoda’s philosophy. This treasure has served the people of Farmington Hills, as well as visitors from around the world, since it’s conception, and today this iconic museum faces demolition. They want to build a new Meijer’s store in place of Marvin’s, and that would be quite the mistake.  Marvin’s is survived by Marvin’s son, Jeremy Yagoda, who oversees all operations. Coupled with newfound popularity from the 2000’s indie band “Tally Hall”, Marvin’s has its fair share of fans everywhere who would be devastated to see the building be torn down. If you want to do more than sign a petition, you can attend the Farmington Hills City Council Chambers meeting on 11/16/2023 and show your support for marvin’s and your disdain for a new Meijer’s. Now is the time to act before we lose this eighth wonder of the world.

Click HERE to view the petition.

This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand America’s obsession with pinball. He heads to Long Beach California for a meeting of the Long Beach Pinball League, headed by passionate pinball man Tom Walker. His league is part of the International Flipper Pinball Association which is made up of 96,000 players from 45 countries. David then meets Tom Radar, a man who has been obsessively collecting pinball machines for years. Click HERE to listen to the podcast.

The IFPA is excited to announce that Stern has added Stranger Things Pro and Premium back to the rewards program. A reminder that the 2022 rewards earned by players expire December 31st, 2023.

Detailed rules for the $tern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers, and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.