The silver ball doesn’t care about your resume, and Stern’s The Mandalorian (LE) certainly doesn’t care about your feelings. Celebrating its five-year anniversary this June, the 2021 release remains one of the most punishing, exhilarating arenas on the competitive circuit. Half a decade after rolling off the line, it is still packing the floor and forcing flippers to test their limits against its relentless layout. You could feel that exact blend of nostalgia and high-stakes tension crackling through Captain’s Arcade Showroom in Anaheim for the OC Belles & Chimes Season 22 Group Match Play.
Ten competitors walked into the showroom ready to battle across eighteen distinct machines. But this wasn’t just a casual evening of flipping; it was a tight, intimate ten-player gauntlet where every single group matchup felt like a heavyweight title fight. With an average California North American Championship Series (NACS) rank hovering around #831, this field proved that you don’t need a top-tier IFPA number to bring elite physical grit to the playfield.
The Intimate Gauntlet at Captain’s
Captain’s Arcade Showroom is legendary in the Southern California scene, acting as a massive sanctuary housing over fifty-five machines spanning from 1977 right up to the modern era. The atmosphere on tournament nights is electric, driven by a deep community appreciation for hardware kept in absolute peak mechanical condition. When a venue maintains a lineup this pristine, the machines transform from mere wooden cabinets into true testing grounds for athletic precision.
The format for the evening demanded absolute stamina: four-player group match play where points are earned strictly by finishing position within each pod. In a field of ten, there is zero room to hide behind the math. Every drain is magnified, and every successful nudge can completely alter the standings.
Upset on the 1984 Laser Cue Grid
The qualifying action immediately delivered a massive jolt to the system on Williams’ 1984 classic, Laser Cue. Stephanie Diaz stepped up to the vintage solid-state machine facing off against veteran competitor Lisa Buhrmester and organizer CC Castaneda. Pre-game ratings gave Diaz roughly a one-in-four chance to take the pod against such experienced company.
Throwing probability out the window, Diaz locked in with absolute masterclass control. Relying on dead bounces and favoring the safer drop target angles from the upper right, she navigated the brutal sequence rules to claim first place and 7.00 crucial points. It was a statement performance that proved the day’s field was wide open.
Mastering the Five-Year Razor Crest
While the classics tested the players’ patience, the five-year-old The Mandalorian (LE) demanded pure, lightning-fast aggression. Crafted as a masterwork of modern mechanical playfield design, the machine requires absolute commitment to dangerous center shots. To truly command the arena, players had to repeatedly rip the middle Razor Crest targets to qualify the multiball before securing their missions at the scoop.
Those running the Pro models even attempted the soft-plunge technique to upper targets for the sneaky 750,000-point skill shot advantage. Watching the field tackle this five-year-old titan highlighted how modern software advances force athletes to make split-second risk-reward calculations. You either hit the center with authority, or you watch the silver ball rocket straight down the middle.
Little’s Sweeping Run Meets Stoddard’s Resolve
As the rounds progressed, Amanda Little put on an absolute clinic in offensive flipper mechanics. Displaying the poise of a seasoned veteran despite being relatively new to the circuit, Little posted the top score on five out of the six machines she touched. Her dominance across heavy hitters like Godzilla (LE) and Creature from the Black Lagoon kept her locked in a fierce, ongoing rivalry with CC Castaneda, extending her lead over their thirteen shared tournament appearances.
Yet, while Little was sweeping individual arenas, Laura Stoddard was quietly putting together a campaign of unbreakable consistency. Stoddard absorbed the pressure of the tightening field, securing decisive victories on Total Nuclear Annihilation and James Bond 007. When the dust settled on the final group standings, Stoddard’s sheer tactical survival edged out Little’s explosive scoring, cementing a hard-fought career milestone.
A Champion Crowned in Anaheim
Laura Stoddard’s victory is a testament to the twenty-three years of competitive grit she brings to the silver ball. Navigating a field where walk-ups and veterans traded blows on equal footing, Stoddard proved that true pinball intuition is forged over decades of adapting to wild mechanical bounces. It was a brilliant night of community, nostalgia, and fierce athletic drama at Captain’s.
The Podium
- 1st Place: Laura Stoddard
- 2nd Place: Amanda Little
- 3rd Place: Stephanie Diaz
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