Saturday, January 12, 2013

Collecting the Sox: Pocket Schedules


I’m going to start this off with a few questions about collecting pocket schedules. I have several pocket schedules. I don’t pay any money for them. I don’t actively seek them out. I just don’t throw them away after the season. Is that collecting? Is that hoarding? Do I have a problem?

On second thought, don’t answer that last one.

Pocket schedules are a fun little item. They meet most of my requirements when it comes to collecting something. They’re not expensive. They’re really cheap. In fact, the new ones are usually free. They’re not rare. The Red Sox practically beg you to take as many as you can. I like things that I can make a small collection of easily, like that. They have a ton of variety. That always adds visual interest to a collection. Some of them have players on the front. Some have pictures of Fenway, or other Red Sox related subjects. I even like looking at all the ads that are crammed onto the schedules these days. Lately, the Sox have even produced several versions each year, as the schedule becomes more concrete. So, technically, you could collect the entire 2012 set! As I mentioned in my Jacoby TTM post, I’m a bit concerned about the different style of schedule I was sent. While the schedule is a sturdier material, and can be viewed without having to unfold it, it’s dull and boring. For the collection, I hope they bring back the fold outs with colorful graphics.

The schedules are nice for storage purposes too. That’s important to me as collections grow. If you don’t have the space, or a method, to enjoy them, what’s the point? That’s not a problem with the schedules. They’re small, if they are folded. You might say that they’re pocket-sized. So, I keep mine in 9-pocket sheets. That makes it a breeze to flip through and enjoy them.

As with anything I collect, I love the historical aspect to schedules. You can see stars from the past on the front. There’s Mo Vaughn taking his cuts, or Johnny Pesky giving a wave. Naturally, they celebrate world championships and important anniversaries. As with the magnet schedules, the schedule itself can be fun to look over. I can travel back to 1999 and see how brutal the month of September was. Imagine. Time travel, available in your pocket. What else could you ask for?

Anyone else have a pocket schedule collection?

8 comments:

  1. I love these things and have quite a few. Started collecting them 11 years ago and write teams all the time for them. Just got in the new Jackson Generals schedule with today's mail.

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  2. From the looks of your blog, you have quite the collection.

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  3. I try to pick one up when I visit a ballpark, and I'm appreciative if friends or acquaintances pass along ones they've picked up during their travels. I don't go out of my way to collect them, though.

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  4. How about we set up as bloggers a pocket schedule tab for trading. I have around 200 from living all over in the army, and I love collecting them. I would never buy one, except one from pre 70s. I think it would be cool to trade schedules from areas all over. Hum...I don't think it is hoarding because I keep them neatly organized.

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  5. I have some memorabilia here - I'll post some schedules shortly --

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3488892378348.2190745.1152614590&type=3

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  6. My collection can be found here:

    http://www.suprfrog.com

    This is the main Yahoo mailing list for trading skeds:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Skednet/

    There are also quite a few Facebook groups re: sked collecting.

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  7. I started out ordering from the Chicago teams. Then, as I was listening to games of other teams, St Louis, Cincinnati, etc. I started ordering those, so I'd know when they played. Eventually, I got to the point where I ordered all the teams. I've gotten a big collection over the years.
    I found an online group of people who collect them, & started trading for skeds that I didn't have.

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  8. I have over 800 different Tedsox schedules

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