Yes. Whatever is needed to buy some time…
It feels like someone died.
That sounds dramatic, but after processing this news for a couple hours that’s how my mental response is going. For a solid ten years PAPA/Replay brought me tons of joy and positivity and opened my eyes to a community I’m proud to be part of. I feel very fortunate and thankful to have been able to be there as much as I was, and I’ll always have those memories.
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about people offering to help, or asking why didn’t they do this or that before the announcement. Obviously the public response is going to be strong for such a beloved entity and people want to help, but as with any changes that the Replay staff has ever announced, I’ve always felt they considered all options before any major decisions and this must have been the toughest of them all. Endless appreciation for what you all contributed to the preservation and progress of pinball, yinz truly set the standard for everyone else to live up to. I hope the foundation can continue that spirit in whatever capacity is possible and appropriate.
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Wow, bummer. So with INDISC being the “new PAPA”, who will step up and be the “new INDISC”?
MAP - Mid-Atlantic Association of Pinball
Damn… What a crummy year this has been. Best of wishes to everybody at the Replay Foundation.
Was the option explored to ask those of us who bought tickets to donate the money to keep the foundation going? I agree with ray on the gofundme. Pinball is not a cheap hobby which does not imply everyone is rich. However, must of us care about this hobby a lot, and would be willing to donate to keep this fantastic foundation alive. A lot can be said about this community, but one thing that would never be said is that we lack of passion for our hobby. I hope this is just a warning but sadly it looks like it is final.
Per the FAQs that came with the announcement, “As a ticket holder, you may instead choose to donate some or all of your prepaid amount to the Foundation, which remains a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.” Additionally, they make sure to specify that the Foundation is not dissolving per se, although it is liquidating its assets and discontinuing its day-to-day operations.
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What a dark day for the tourney pinball scene and pinball in general.
Thank you to all those who made PAPA/Pinburgh/ReplayFX some of the greatest pinball events of all time. They will be truly missed.
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What is the goal of the foundation if the assets are liquidated? I did not see that in the FAQ. Does this help the people involved financially, or will it be applied to a new purpose for the foundation?
I can’t believe this is happening.
Why can’t we do something about this? Is there that much debt?
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Posted this on Facebook, but worth sharing here . . .
I wanted to share a few pictures that show the amount of fun I’ve had NOT winning any of the 22 Pinburgh/PAPA World Championship events that I’ve participated in over these past 16 years.
As someone who knows that it takes an army to run a competitive pinball organization, I wanted to send my deepest thanks, appreciation, gratitude, and every other synonym that could possibly be listed to the entire Replay Foundation team of employees and volunteers. The amount of sheer unadulterated JOY these events have provided me can’t be typed in any combination of words or numbers.
More importantly is the impact these events have had on growing the sport to the record levels of participation we continue to see year after year after year (2020 not withstanding).
Wherever the Replay Foundation goes from here, the IFPA will always be here as an ally and partner to help however we can.
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But seriously. Can’t we just come together as a community and start a GoFundMe and at least try? Or do the powers to be not want to go that direction?
I’m saddened that the news didn’t come before the end and only after it.
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I would love a chance to contribute and try to save them.
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I don’t speak for anyone at ReplayFX or the Replay Foundation. This is just from my heart.
Its remarkable that so many people want to contribute and see this survive. I imagine if there was any feasible way to do it, the ReplayFX board of directors would have considered it. This decision was definitely not made lightly. There was so much planning that had been put into place for future events and it had to be really difficult to give up on it.
While we put together an amazing experience, that is all it is in the end of the day. We accomplished alot. But there are others out there still keeping the dream alive.
Donate/Visit your local pinball establishments and businesses. Or help out those that have had to sacrifice from these crazy times. This family is much bigger than ReplayFX. Help them.
Cross your fingers. This is just a down-sizing. But that doesn’t mean it has to be forever. Lots of lessons were learned over the years. Hopefully things will become normal again and the phoenix will rise from the ashes.
Thank you for all the love.
#hyhforever
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I just have to throw my 2c in and say that I wish the community would have been given a chance to try and help.
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Agreed
Everyone did have the chance. There was a donation page on the website. And there were other social media posts.
Obviously, its difficult to know the direness of a situation when you have to work around the unknown.
While I haven’t been to every major event pinball has to offer, I’m certainly not alone in thinking that you managed to make Pinburgh feel like an event on par with the Superbowl every year. It’s no small miracle an event that large, with so much setup, plus the inherent unreliability of pinball machines in general, ran so smoothly. I only made it to three, but I deeply appreciate all the work the foundation and all the volunteers put in to making it the best event in pinball and indeed one of the best events of any kind I’ve ever been to. Thank you all.
I finished in B division every time I went and joked I was destined to never escape it. Looks like I was unfortunately correct.
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STRONGLY disagree with this statement! This came completely out of left field for anyone who wasn’t an insider. A ton of people are wondering why the pinball community wasn’t given an opportunity to save it.
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I went to one of the few local pinball places that Is still open in my city, and put up RFX initials in honor of ReplayFX. Let’s make it a thing. Post pics here. 
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