Product Spotlight: A Deep Dive into the 2023 EvoShield All-Star Game Catcher’s Gear for the Home Run Derby

Check out the Custom 2023 All-Star Game Catcher’s Gear, worn in the 2023 Home Run Derby.

As the official brand of catcher's gear in the MLB, EvoShield is proud to design the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby catcher's equipment each year. For the upcoming All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, we had the pleasure of collaborating with Off Axis Paint to create the custom catcher's gear that will be worn during the events in Seattle at T-Mobile Park.

Off Axis Paint is a professional airbrush company founded by Greg Stumpff in 2010 that specializes primarily in racing helmets. Greg quickly gained customers in the ranks in the racing industry and moved from his small Midwest town to Race City USA. They have been located in Mooresville, North Carolina, since 2012. Stumpff now has a team of three talented artists by his side and has had the honor to paint for champions, celebrities, and former presidents. Greg Stumpff still leads Off Axis Paint today and is involved in all parts of the business, including being the lead painter.

The star of this year’s catcher's gear is the spectacularly designed All-Star Game Helmet. Using House of Kolor paint, it has a speckled paint pattern on the larger shapes of the design, a ghosted Seattle skyline on both sides and a finely detailed truss pattern that represents T-Mobile Park in multiple locations. The intricately detailed white pearls in the teal and blue portions of the helmet symbolize the rainfall in Seattle and the many stars who will participate in the All-Star game. There are three different designs of the custom catcher's helmet.

Tanner Krysl, Off Axis Paint's Sales Manager, came up with the extraordinary design. Off Axis Paint dedicated extra time and effort to the helmet, given that baseball gear is not the company's focus.

"Because this wasn't a typical project for us, it presented some challenges," Krysl said. "We knew we wanted a clean look that incorporated the different design elements. But we also wanted to allow for the House of Kolor paint products to set the helmets off."

The helmets were painted by one of Off Axis Paint's helmet painters, Mike Sauers. After basing each helmet in white, Sauers spent several hours meticulously hand-taping the lines of the design and masking areas of the helmets off. The next step was to spray each color on. Sauers gave the pearls and flakes a depth effect by taping, masking, and spraying each helmet four times after scuffing the clear coatings. 

Besides the All-Star Game logos, everything on the helmets was hand painted. Mike Sauers emphasized the amount of work dedicated to the painting process.

“Each helmet has approximately 30-35 hours of worth of work in them," Sauers said. "We were stoked with the final results and can't wait to see them shining in Seattle."

EvoShield and Off Axis Paint worked incredibly well together on this project. Off Axis Paint had total creative freedom in designing and painting the helmets. EvoShield entrusted Sauers and Krysl with the overall concept and execution.

"The level of trust and understanding was second to none in client interactions," Krysl said. “The entire Off Axis Paint team hopes to be able to work on future projects together with EvoShield again."

In addition to the custom catcher's helmet, EvoShield designed the custom chest protector that will be on display at the Home-Run Derby. The chest protector is a brand-new design made in the 2023 All-Star Game style guide colors, featuring performance elements never seen before in catcher's gear. Like the custom helmets, it features a truss pattern on the accents that reflect the architectural designs of T- Mobile Park.

You can see this eye-popping catcher's gear on your televisions during the Home Run Derby on July 10th at 5 PM PST!