Oakley Factory Tour With Bob Burnquist

Oakley Headquarters in Southern California was the site of the latest Frank151 + LikeMe Launch Contest giveaway last week, as our winner and LikeMe user Bret Price and his buddy met up with Oakley pro skater and 15 time X Games medalist Bob Burnquist for a private tour and autographed Oakley prize pack. Oakley led us deep into the heart of the factory to check out all the behind the scenes action at the massive compound.

The tour kicked off in the lobby, which houses a full service Oakley retail store, museum and multiple display cases, with our trusty tour guide Eric. Eric started out with a little background about the brand and the man behind it, James Jannard.

Some of the new goggle offerings for 2009/2010.

Oakley made special edition glasses for every MLB team this season.

Dylan Radloff, Oakley's Skate Team Manager, shows off some upcoming catalog photos.

Eric breaks down Oakley's worldwide counterfeit enforcement operations. As you can imagine, they stay quite busy.

Anya tests out the defenses in front of the top secret design department.

We weren't allowed behind these doors, but Eric explained all the resources that the Oakley design dept. has at their disposal. They can design a new eyewear frame, make a mold, refine it, and produce a finished product within a matter of hours all right here on site.

Here is good example of how Oakley expanded from their initial product of BMX and motocross handgrips to goggles during the '80s, dramatically increasing brand visibility and opening up a whole new world.

From there we took a seat in Oakley's private theater to watch Bob's new part in the Flip video Extremely Sorry. Bob kills it on his backyard mega ramp set up, with a multitude of tricks impossible for anyone else to replicate.

After the movie Bob personally autographed some of his new Flip pro models decks made entirely of bamboo. Bob is well known for being a champion of the environment, creating the Bob Burnquist Foundation to bring knowledge about organic farming and gardening to schools, and one of the founders of the Action Sports Environmental Coalition, a nonprofit organization that brings ecological awareness to our community. He even signed a few pairs of his Signature Series Recycled Gascans!

After we wrapped up the tour and said our goodbyes, there was another big event going down in the lobby. Oakley has recently launched its new ELITE Collection , including the C SIX™ sunglass, valued at $4,000! Well the first pair of C SIX eyewear was sold the day we were there and the buyer, Robert Lang, was greeted personally by CEO Colin Baden as well as Senior Design Director, Peter Yee (who himself designed the C SIX). To read more about this crazy sunglass CLICK HERE.

Special thanks go out to Oakley, Bob Burnquist, Dylan Radloff, Eric our Tour Guide, Digby, Jason and everyone else that help make this possible. For a chance to win your very own grand prize experience, just go to The Launch Landing Page and FOLLOW the sign-up instructions. Remember, we're giving away 151 prizes, so even if you don't live near one of the Grand Prize cities, you can still win tons of other stuff like Vans sneakers and snowboard boots, 686 Outerwear, Clothing from Rogue Status and Akomplice, a signed photograph from Ricky Powell, signed copies of CDs from Redman, Santigold, Trouble Andrew, UGOD and Grand Puba, FDL New Era™ hats, a Frank’s Chop Shop skate deck, a $100 shopping spree on Frank151.com, a lifetime subscription to Frank151 Magazine, a VIP Chop Shop spa treatment and much more.