FARKEL factory

Like I mentioned in the last entry, Julie Thompson, introduced me to the game of FARKEL in the late 90's. Since then, I've shared the game with countless friends and routinely refered people to this site....
http://www.pocketfarkel.com/

When I first got my original POCKET Farkel the offices were in Salina, KS. Then a few years back, I looked on the site and saw the contact info was listing Derby, KS, as the home of Farkel. While back in Wichita, I looked again and saw they'd moved to Wichita, and the address was only blocks from THE DONUT WHOLE> I called and was told that they don't have official times for tours, but to come on down when ever I wanted. I tried to coordinate with Julie and her kids, but that proved tough to make work. So Brodie, Zep, and I stopped by the factory after a trip to eat donuts.

a non descript office building...check Zep's reflection.

Zep and the front room display of every farkel they make.

It took a few minutes to get the tour situated. Turns out they don't have too many fans beating down the door for tours. But soon, Charlie Potter, aka Mr Farkel, came out and showed us around the facility.

Charlie and my OG set from 1994

I showed Charlie the set I've been playing with since the 90's. He was mesmerized and you could tell he was taken back in time. After minutes of thorough inspection, he determined that it was from their 2nd run of games ever. He was adamant that I stop playing with this set and save it for posterity and he let me choose a new game for free.

my new set!

Zep inspects the die backstock.

Charlie spent 45 minutes showing us around and explaining the course of the company. He elaborated on the strictness of certain licensing agreements and how he has to deny BIG BOX stores order attempts.

Zep chose GOLF farkel

My pal, Hannah was heading off to AFRICA for two months and wanted a set, so I got her two sets and fired them off in the mail. I have yet to hear about African Farkel adventures. I've seen some waterfall pics, but come on, Hannah....where are the farkel pics?


next up.... the final Wichita post....