Pope Leone signs a Pokémon card: how much it can apply

Pope Leone XIV It has also become an icon among the Pokémon fans. The reason? His signature on a collectible popplio cardseventh generation creature. It is not a random choice, given that the name of the Pokémon in question refers to the English pronunciation of Pope Leone – Pope Leo. Everything started from the user ITSMEKINGTHEOwho published the photos of the autographed card and a boy present at the Vatican hearing with the captions written in Caps-Lock: “My friend was signed his Pokémon Popplio card by Pope Leo”. The photos, then released by other profiles, immediately became viral.

The controversies on the paper signed by the Pope

In the past few hours the user in question was criticized on Elon Musk’s social network for having widespread photos not of his. “This guy stole my friend’s photos of the popplio. I don’t know who the man is in the second photo, but he is not my friend, who is the one who made the poppium sign,” he wrote on X Fatiguea streamer based in Denmark. “The owner of the popplio is a leader in my city and is a dear friend of mine.” Itsmekingtheo then deleted the post with the offending photos and apologized. Although the identity of the lucky owner of Popplio remains unknown, the news continues to spread and obtain the consent of the fans of the pocket monsters.

The value of the paper signed by the Pope

That of collectible cards is now a growing sectorand not only on the playful front. The turnover that reach individual cards is truly immense, with people willing to spend crazy figures to grab the rarer piece for their collection. What happened with the latest expansion Magic The Gathering X Final Fantasy is only the most recent example, but also Pokémon TGC It is a world full of stories on unique cards, astronomical figures and scams of hundreds of thousands of dollars (here the reference is to the Pokémon Beta cards). In the case of popplio signed by the Pope, we are talking about a unique piece, which could apply a fortune. On a hypothetical level though: There is no official confirmation on the signature or authenticated video and photographic tests. The real owner, apparently, prefers to keep the card in private.

However exist previous cases of autographed Pokémon cards that allow you to have an idea of ​​what turn of business could generate a specimen signed by the Pope. It is worth mentioning the case of the very rare Ishihara GX Promoautographed by the president of The Pokémon Company, sold at auction for over 247,000 dollars. Even one Charizard signed by Sarah NatochennyAmerican voice of Ash, has been evaluated around $ 20,000. The signatures of Ken Sugimori and Mitsuhiro Aritahistorical illustrators of the franchise: a card with the Arita autograph can exceed 50,000 dollars on Ebay, especially if they are iconic editions such as the Charizard Base Set. In this context, a poppium card signed by Pope Leo XIV, a figure completely outside the brand but with enormous symbolic relevance, could take on an even greater value. The mix between uniqueness, virality and signing “out of context” makes it difficult for a precise estimate, but it is plausible to imagine that, if it were authenticated, it could become One of the most sought after and discussed Pokémon objects ever.

The story of Popplio

Popplio is a water type creature. It appears for the first time among the starters of Pokémon Sole and Lunathe chapter released for Nintendo 3DS in 2016 set in Alola, a region that refers to Hawaii. It is no coincidence that its design is inspired by the marine lions and nun seals that live on the Hawaiian coasts. Evident inspiration also in the name, given that Popplio combines pop (the sound of a bubble), Pōpō (Hawaiian per ball) and pup (puppy). He has two evolutionary stadiums: Briionne and Primarina. At the beginning, some users had criticized its playful, almost clownesco appearance, but its evolutionary path and primarine elegance made it redeem the reputation, giving life to the “Popplio Defense Squad”.