I Guess We Have To Go Through All Of Our Childhood Baseball Cards Because Apparently They Are Worth Something Again

TMZ - You're looking at the most expensive hockey card that's EVER lived ... 'cause this Wayne Gretzky rookie from 1979 just fetched $1.29 MILLION at auction!!!

FYI -- the price is WILD for a hockey piece ... no hockey card had ever even surpassed the $1 million mark!!!

Heritage Auctions says the card's perfect, Gem Mint 10 grade is so incredibly rare, there are only 2 with the rating in existence!!

Unclear who the buyer is ... but it's the latest example of the ridiculous boom in the card industry -- in the last few months, cards from all sports have gone for INSANE prices.

Out of god damn nowhere sports cards are all the rage again. Who woulda thunk it? I collected the shit out of cards as a wee lad. I loved buying packs of cards, getting boxes for my birthday, and putting the good ones and inserts into toploaders. And then, the fad died. The industry dried up. Every card you thought you had that was worth something became worthless. It was a sad day for...for well everyone. Cards were so fun to collect as a kid. And it was always cool that you could have a few that were worth something.

So now what are we supposed to do? Go through all our boxes of cards and see if we're unknowingly sitting on something like a Wayne Gretzky rookie card? I mean, obviously it's highly unlikely considering something of that sort was worth a shit ton back in the day as well, but with the way prices are surging right now, who knows what's gathering dust in your mom's basement.

Next time I go home I'm going to have to take a look. There's gotta be some sort of hidden gem amongst the boxes and boxes of cards that never got thrown or given away. Maybe I'll buy one of those card magazines too and look up all the prices. Do they still print Tuff Stuff? Good memories, man.