Pope-apalooza’ inspires a flood of bobbleheads, mugs, even beer

Pope Francis merchandise for sale at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception gift shop in Washington. Demand for all kinds of memorabilia is expected to soar when the pope visits in September. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

By Steve Hendrix August 24 at 8:33 PM

Warren Royal dreamed of a classier bobblehead pope.
The owner of Royal Bobbleheads is one of the many manufacturers, vendors and artists producing a heavenly host of commemorative baubles — and bobbles — that will surround Pope Francis on his visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia next month. The multitudes will include papal mugs, magnets, buttons and T-shirts along with popes rendered in plush, plastic and (at one Philadelphia deli) mozzarella.
Whatever this pope’s view of global capitalism, there’s not much he can do about the Papal Industrial Complex busily slapping his name and face on souvenirs ranging from Pope Francis Cologne to “YOPO” (“You Only Pope Once”) beer. The mercantile blizzard has become a standard feature of the pontifical visit, and Francis, in particular, seems to have inspired secular as well as religious suppliers to get in the game.

[Pope Francis decries capitalism’s ‘idolatry of money’]

“He’s one of the most popular men in the world,” said Royal, who had never made a papal likeness at his Georgia-based figurine company.

Pope Francis merchandise for sale at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception gift shop in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

But Royal aimed beyond bobblehead popes of questionable taste. One version on Etsy features the Holy Father’s visage bobbing between a pair of Rocky-esque boxing gloves, with a cheesesteak in one fist and a soft pretzel in the other.
So Royal and his designers reduced the plastic pontiff’s head by 30 percent (“It’s not so cartoonish, but it still moves well”), vetted his vestments for style and color with Catholic scholars, and ordered him cast in the most substantial resin Guangzhou factories could provide.
“It’s not a just a tchotchke to stick on the dash,” Royal said proudly by phone from Atlanta. “People seem to form a personal connection with this figure.”
He has sold almost 10,000 of them, at $25 retail, in the weeks leading up to the Pope-apalooza and is rushing a new shipment from China. One of the stores on the back-order list is the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington, where manager Kevin Jones expects the papal visit to double or triple his sales for the month.