We all have our motivations for collecting baseball cards. For John Dingeman, his goal was simple (but not easy) — to collect every Tigers Topps card from 1952 to 2025.
And he finally did it. Dingeman was featured in The Detroit News in an article by Adam Graham, as they discussed his journey of collecting more than 2,000 Detroit Tigers Topps cards that span across seven-plus decades.
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From Detroit Roots to Collecting Glory
Dingeman’s Tigers fandom began at five years old as he accompanied his brother to Tiger Stadium. Growing up on Detroit’s west side near Grand River and Telegraph, he started collecting baseball cards in the mid-1970s, purchasing 25-cent Topps packs from his local drugstore.
While his active collecting paused around 1991, Dingeman never abandoned his cards. They followed him during moves to Phoenix in 2003 and later to Sacramento in 2013. The collection’s rebirth came in 2021 when he rediscovered those cardboard boxes containing handwritten notes from his childhood – lists of Tigers cards he was missing at age 10 or 12.
That discovery sparked what happened next. Now in his 50s with the resources his childhood self never had, Dingeman decided to complete what he’d started decades earlier. As any modern collector knows, the accessibility of cards through shops, shows, and online marketplaces have transformed the hobby completely.
The Hunt for Tigers History
Rather than trying to collect every Tigers card ever produced (which would be virtually impossible given today’s multitude of manufacturers and parallel cards), Dingeman focused his collection on Topps base cards – the standard releases found in retail packs.
His approach involved using collecting apps to identify needed cards and then hunting through card shops, shows, and online sources. What makes this achievement particularly impressive is the range – from affordable junk wax era cards of the early 90s to significantly pricier vintage cards from the 1950s.
Instead of heading out for dinner after work during business trips in Michigan, Dingeman would visit local card shops to check items off his list. One such stop was Grand Slam Sports Shop in Sterling Heights, where owner Dave Rivetto helped him locate some difficult-to-find 1950s cards.
Crown Jewels of the Collection
So what treasures sit within this comprehensive Tigers collection? Several standout cards would make any collector’s mouth water.
Dingeman shared that some of his most expensive acquisitions included Billy Hoeft and Fred Hatfield cards from the 1952 Topps set (approximately $300 each), while an Al Kaline rookie card from 1954 commanded around $600 – the highest price he paid for any single card.
Other highlights include the 1978 Alan Trammell rookie (shared with Paul Molitor), the 1981 Kirk Gibson rookie, and the 2005 Justin Verlander rookie. For Tigers fans tracking current stars, his 2021 Tarik Skubal card might be one to watch as Skubal continues to dominate on the mound following his first American League Cy Young Award in 2024.
Preserving Tigers History for Generations
What’s most striking about Dingeman’s collection isn’t its estimated $10,000 value – it’s his motivation. This isn’t an investment portfolio; it’s a passion project.
There’s nothing extravagant about how he stores his treasures. The cards rest in protective sleeves inside top loaders, organized chronologically in cardboard boxes. Custom dividers marked with the Old English D and year help separate the sets. His favorite designs are those from his childhood – particularly the 1981 set with its “goofy” baseball hats in the corner and the wood-bordered 1987 cards that coincided with memorable Tigers moments.
Most touching is Dingeman’s hope that his four-year-old grandson will someday share his passion. He’s already begun buying factory sets starting with 2020 (Jackson’s birth year) and dreams they’ll eventually work together “to get to year 100.”
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