Pope Leo XIV Has Made Trading Card History
White smoke billowed from the top of the Vatican last week, signaling the election and imminent arrival of a new pope. The announcement proved to be historic, as Pope Leo XIV emerged as the first American pope in history.
The Chicago-born pope is still less than a week into his papacy, but he also made history in another unexpected space: the trading card market.
The Topps NOW card commemorating Pope Leo XIV's election is now the highest-selling non-sports card in the program's history. 133,535 copies of the card sold during its limited release window from Thursday through Sunday.
The recipients of the cards will now wait to see if they've received special numbered refractor versions - Gold Foil to 50, Orange Foil to 25, Red Foil to five and the 1 of 1 FoilFractor.
After selling more than 100,000 copies, the card will receive even more exclusive variants with rarities of 99, 50, 25, 10, five and a 1 of 1 Superfractor.
Another special 'White Smoke' variant of the card will be limited to just 267 copies, in tribute to Leo XIV being elected as the 267th pontiff.
The Topps NOW program began in 2016, and offers collectors the opportunity to hunt cards associated with special events. Cards are only available for a limited time - usually a few days - giving fans the chance to select cards during historic or significant moments.
588,035 copies of an Olympic basketball card featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were sold last year, as collectors sought an ultra-exclusive 1 of 1 card featuring signatures from all three players.
More fans purchased 653,737 copies of a card commemorating Shohei Ohtani's historic 50/50 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers last October. The chase was once again fueled by an extremely valuable 1 of 1 card featuring a personal autograph from Ohtani.
The new pope may be featured on a baseball card, but he was also a part of baseball history. After his election, historians combed through footage to find that Leo XIV - born Robert Prevost - attended at least one game during the 2005 World Series.
To date, it's the last time the Chicago White Sox have won the most prestigious prize in baseball. We'll see if his election brings the team good fortune.
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