It’s tough to find the words at the moment.

Having met Lyman when I was only a teenager, the impact he had on how I thought, lived and breathed pinball (both competitively and the game as a form of entertainment) is impossible to explain.

He played with a weird stance . . . so I played with a weird stance (until my back absolutely couldn’t take it anymore).

He would play without shoes . . . so I played without shoes.

He would play with a towel hanging out of his back pocket . . . so I played with a towel hanging out of my back pocket.

He was my pinball hero. There is that saying, “never meet your heroes”. I’m so incredibly fortunate that I did.

Lyman always had time for me from Junior High School all the way through officially getting to work together with him this past year. I’ll remember the play sessions in his basement. I’ll remember the rounds on the golf course. I’ll remember the countless hours talking about pinball and life and how lucky we both were to have both found something in life to be so passionate about.

I’m thankful for all the times we had together over the past 30 years. I’m also thankful for the joy he will continue to bring me in the years to come anytime I turn on one of his games.

RIP Lyman.

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The IFPA is excited to announce that Stern has added Jurassic Park Pin to the rewards program!

Detailed rules for the Stern Rewards Program, including an updated list of qualifiers (including those who finished in the top 1000 in the World Pinball Players Rankings for the 2021 season), and updated list of rewards available can be found HERE.

Due to Stern’s production backlog, the Stern Rewards Program is currently on allocation for the 2022 calendar year.

Here is the current list of what’s available as of this moment. We will do our best to update the rewards website as often as possible.

Avengers Pro (ETA – Mar 2022 – 4 left)
Deadpool Premium (TBD 2023)
Deadpool Pro (TBD 2023)
Jurassic Park Pin (ETA – Nov 2022 – 7 left)
Jurassic Park Premium (TBD 2023)
Jurassic Park Pro (TBD 2023)
Star Wars Premium (ETA – Aug 2022 – 7 left)
Star Wars Pro (ETA – Aug 2022 – 5 left)
Star Wars Pin (ETA – Nov 2022 – 7 left)
Star Wars Comic Pin (ETA – Nov 2022 – 7 left)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro (ETA – Dec 2022 – 7 left)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Premium (ETA – Dec 2022 – 7 left)

Here are the December 2021 IFPA winners for Player of the Month and Biggest Movers:

Player of the Month:
Arvid Flygare from Sweden (199.88 WPPR’s – MAIN)
Jane Verwys from Chicago, IL (17.34 WPPR’s – WOMEN’S)

Biggest Movers:
Ryan Hardy from Ashburn, VA (+12,487 spots)
Wendy Bourg from Baton Rouge, LA (+9870 spots)
Jeremy Smith from Baltimore, MD (+9119 spots)

These players have now all qualified for the Stern Rewards Program for 2021. Congrats to everyone!

Out & About in Wilmington, Delaware highlighted the opening of the Delaware Pinball Collective. Click HERE to read the article.

The IFPA is pleased to announce that our Player of the Year for 2021 is 13 year old Arvid Flygare from Lund, Sweden. In the shortened 2021 season, Arvid was still able to rack up an incredible 665.14 WPPR points during 2021. Arvid currently sits as the #6 ranked player in the world having moved up from the #155 ranking at the start of the year.

Arvid was the IFPA Player of the Month in November and likely December 2021 after all results are finalized, having won 14 of the 42 tournaments he played in during 2021, while finishing in the top 4 in 62% of them.

Arvid’s highlights during 2021 included a sweep in both the Main and Classics tournaments from the Matchstick Pinball Open along with a top 4 finish at all five events at the Borås Pinball Classic Open, four of which were 1st place finishes.

The IFPA wishes to congratulate Arvid on all of his success throughout this shortened 2021 season!

The IFPA is proud to announce that Raymond Davidson has finished at #1 on the World Pinball Player Rankings, thus earning IFPA’s top honor as the 2021 “World’s Greatest Pinball Player”. No single tournament victory will ever secure this title for a given year. Only consistent play at the highest level over the course of multiple years leads to players reaching the pinnacle of the World Pinball Player Rankings. This is the 3rd time that Raymond has been crowned the World’s Greatest Pinball Player and one of five players in history to receive this award (Keith Elwin (7), Jorian Engelbrektsson (3), Zach Sharpe (2) and Johannes Ostermeier (1) being the other four).

While the 2021 season ended up being only 5 months long, Raymond was still able to play in 21 IFPA sanctioned events during this season, with 11 of those events hitting his top 20 IFPA resume. His greatest achievement of 2021 was his 1st place finish at the D82 Pinball Super Series Event 6: 2 Bank MatchPlay, earning him 70.52 WPPR points. Overall, Raymond won 33% of the 21 events he played in, while placing in the top 4 at 62% of his 2021 events, a truly remarkable achievement.

Congratulations to Raymond, and best of luck to everyone on the upcoming 2022 season in the race for #1. Raymond will receive his WGPP trophy at the IFPA17 World Pinball Championship in Florida in May.