Pope Leo XIV trading card sets Topps record

Field Level Media|published: Mon 12th May, 17:42 2025

May 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; The Chicago White Sox displayed a scoreboard announcement of Pope Leo XIV before the game against the Miami Marlins at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Pope Leo XIV can add another major milestone to his resume: A trading card set that outperforms LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama.

According to Topps, the first American pope's run of trading cards set an all-time record for any non-sports card under the brand. The Topps Now set sold 133,535 during its limited time release from Thursday through Sunday.

Topps Now sets commemorate milestone events and are sold individually for a limited time. The card depicting the Chicago-born pope on the Topps website was listed at $8.99 per card and was

The run of sales has eclipsed other notable Topps Now sets, including James exceeding 40,000 career points (86,072) and Wembanyama's NBA Rookie of the Year win (113,777).

The record for a sports Topps Now card belongs to Shohei Ohtani becoming the first MLB player to record a 50/50 season, which had a print run of 653,737.

Pope-related trading cards have been around for years, including Chocolat Guerin-Boutron producing a Pope Leo XIII card in 1909. In 2015, with Pope Francis visiting, the Philadelphia Phillies released a Pope Francis "rookie" card. Eight years later, a 2009 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts signature card of Pope John Paul II sold on eBay for $1,800 -- the most expensive pope-related trading card sold.

--Field Level Media

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