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All Star catchers gear is some of the most well known and high quality equipment on the market.

In this article, we dive in and showcase all the gear that All Star has to offer.

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There are lots of good brands of catchers gear available. Yet there's at least one brand that stands out from the pack due to its innovative, high quality, well designed, and great looking products.

That brand? All-Star®.

All Star Catchers Gear

All Star originally began as a company way back in 1960, and it still remains a family business.

Based in Shirley, Massachusetts, All Star's products and reputation for developing high quality baseball and faspitch softball equipment caused the brand to grow increasingly popular.

Even today, more than 30 percent of catchers in the MLB wear All Star for at least one component of their gear. The company also makes products that are specifically designed for fastpitch softball catchers.

More than almost any company out there, All Star has built a strong brand by focusing over time almost exclusively on catchers gear, and on making that gear the best it can be. 

All Star's Innovation in Catchers Gear

One thing that stands out about All Star is that they spend a good deal of time and effort testing new technology.

The company holds a variety of patents, and they are known to have a pretty cool testing lab in their company headquarters, according to this article. 

Interestingly, All Star partnered with former Toronto Blue Jay's Catcher Charlie O'Brien to help develop the first catcher's helmet ever used by a pro baseball player.

We reference this in our earlier post for the Best Catcher's Helmets for Baseball. 

If you look at products made by All Star, you'll frequently notice unique - often trademarked - words or phrases in the product descriptions. That typically indicates new technology the company developed and engineered into the product to improve upon its safety, comfort, or functionality.

This guide will touch on some of that unique technology as we get further along in the post.

Goal of This Guide

All Star makes a ton of catchers gear. Most of it's really good.

However, the sheer number of models and variations available can be overwhelming.

So this guide was developed to clearly list all of the All Star catchers gear made by the company and the different variations of that gear in easy to read information tables.

Our goal is that you will come away from reading this guide with:

1. a better understanding of the All Star brand;
2. of the equipment it makes; and
3. of the best options available to you if you are considering buying All Star's catchers gear.

 

Let's now look at a complete inventory of every piece of All Star catchers gear that the company makes, as of the publication date. Each table is divided into sections, and we will start with catcher's helmets first.

All Star Catchers Gear: Products Available by Category

Please note that the following products are those that All Star is actively selling and manufacturing as of the date of publication.

As an independent company, All Star can decide to stop selling certain products or to introduce new products at any time.

In the event this happens, we will do our best to update this page to keep the material as fresh as possible!

Catcher's Helmets 

Our pick for the top catcher's helmet for baseball is the All Star System Seven. It has great protective qualities, is incredibly well ventilated, looks sleek, and is relatively affordable. It's a good pick for most catchers. 

The most exclusive and advanced helmet on the list is the MVP 4000, which is built for professional players and is designed to withstand a constant barrage of fastballs over 100 MPH. It has a solid steel cage, and an incredibly strong polycarbonate shell.  

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*A quick note on All Star helmet technology...

• I-Bar Vision™ is the cage design on the System Seven-branded helmets. It utilizes thinner, flattened (instead of rounded) bars which All Star claims strengthens the mask and increases the range of view.
• ULTRA COOL™ is a special "dual density foam liner" placed inside the helmet (and in other gear with the ULTRA COOL™ name) which helps keep the Catcher cooler than they might otherwise be in a different helmet.

 

Traditional Facemasks

All Star manufactures a number of facemasks for catchers, some of which utilize the I-Bar Vision™ design and others that don't.

An additional difference in the available facemasks is LMX vs LUC padding. LMX pads are leather with a colored vinyl coating, while LUC pads are non-leather but water-resistant and lightweight.

Our pick for the top catcher's mask is the All Star FM25LUC mask, which has a lightweight but strong steel cage. 

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*A quick note on All Star facemask technology... 

• Each facemask is built with the DeltaFlex™ harness system. This is a proprietary harness system which contains a sticky substance that prevents gear from excess movement and shifting during a game.

 

Catcher's Mitts

A variety of catcher's mitts are made by All Star for adult baseball, fastpitch softball, and for youth catchers.

The Pro Elite CM3000 series is the top-of-the-line mitt for baseball catchers, while the Elite Series models are the higher-end softball mitts.

In fact, our choice for All Star's top Fastpitch Softball catcher's mitt is the Elite Series. It is a 33.5 inch H web catcher's mitt made with premium Japanese tanned leather, and containing lots of padding in the palm area.

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*A quick note on the terminology of catcher's mitts... 

• If shopping for a new Catcher's Mitt, you may notice that some are single hinged while others are dual hinged. Hinges are the term indicating the bending point (or line) of the Mitt when closing your hand to catch the ball. A single hinge is a type of Mitt where you bring your thumb and index finger together to close the glove, while a dual hinge is a type of Mitt where you bring your thumb to your pinkie to close the glove.

 

Chest Protectors

The System Seven (S7) line of catchers gear is incredibly popular, and the S7 Axis Chest Protectors that All Star produces makes it clear why.

It comes loaded with impressive features, such as wedge shaped abs and ventilated padding, and it is available in a huge variety of colors. It's one of our favorites, as you can see if you check out our list of Best Chest Protectors for Baseball, as well as in the Best Chest Protectors for Kids & Youth. 

While the S7 Axis line is indeed excellent, the non-S7 Chest Protectors that All Star makes are also of good quality, and are good picks for those who may not be interested in or able to pick up an S7. 

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*A quick note on the terminology of All Star Chest Protectors... 

• All Star advertises their Chest Protectors as coming equipped with "internal PE plates". What does this mean? In this context, PE stands for Polyethylene, which is a form of plastic that has incredible protective qualities. So impressive is this stuff that it has been phasing out some Kevlar in body armor, with even the US military starting to use PE for body armor.
• In addition to being incredibly strong, some All Star Chest Protectors come with PE plates that are moldable to your body, giving you a better, more conforming fit. 

 

Leg Guards

By this point in the article you can probably start to see trends with the names of the catchers gear being produced by All Star. Leg guards come in the S7 series, Ultra Cool, Player's Series, League Series, etc.

While the S7 and AFx series are the higher end products, all are good quality and are sufficient for day to day use by those in the intended user group.

Arguably the most premium level (and newest) product on the leg guards list, at least for baseball catchers, is the S7 Adult Axis lineup. They are definitely worth a closer look. 

Interestingly enough, All Star's leg guards rank highly in our picks for top Leg Guards for Baseball, top Leg Guards for Softball, and top Leg Guards for Youth Catchers.

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*A quick note on All Star Leg Guard technology... 

• You may notice that some All Star Leg Guards come with D30® "Patella Plus" knee pads. D30® is a gel based protective layer built into the Leg Guard which covers the knee cap. It is designed to better absorb shock and provide superior support and comfort to the knee than what you might have in regular Leg Guards.
• Additionally, you may notice that some variations of the Leg Guards come with the DeltaFlex™ harness system, which is described earlier in this guide in the Traditional Facemasks section. 

 

Training Mitts

If you're in need of a catcher training mitt, then look no further. All Star has got you covered.

All Star manufactures three training mitts for catchers, which (as is apparent in the title) are designed for training only and not for use in live games.

While each mitt has a specific training purpose, in general they are designed to do things like help catchers receive the pitch in the correct area of the mitt, improve transfer speed and develop faster hands. 

We recommend using these mitt(s) under the eye of a qualified Coach, not only so you can get great instruction and pointers, but also as an added measure of safety (it can be difficult to catch the ball consistently). 

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Catcher's Gear Sets

Catcher's gear sets (also called "catcher's kits") are useful for people who need to purchase a whole set of catchers gear rather than individual pieces of gear. Fortunately, All Star offers a variety of catcher's gear sets for both baseball and fastpitch softball catchers.

They also offer a pretty sweet looking red, white and blue catchers gear set, which you can see here. 

Please note that the specific sizes of equipment listed can vary based on the age range/intended user of the set.

In other words, all components of the set will match the size of the intended age range/user. 

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Parts and Accessories

All Star makes a ton of different catching accessories as well as replacement parts for their gear. They have (by far) more parts for catchers gear than any other major manufacturer on the market.

Rather than exhaustively list in this article each accessory and part that All Star makes, we encourage you to go directly to their website to see details, because their inventory is always changing.

Instead, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the parts and accessories that stand out to us, in order to give you a flavor of what's available.

Replacement Face Mask Pads

Catcher Knee S'Ports

Padded Inner Glove

Replacement Leg Guard Harness

Replacement Face Mask Harness

Catcher's Roller Bag

Universal Pro Ankle Guard

Lace-on Wrist Guard

Cryohelmet

 

Custom Gear

Wearing customized gear is very important to a lot of catchers. Luckily, All Star provides the ability to customize its gear via their Mixlab.

Keep in mind that not all All Star products can be customized, only certain pieces of their catcher's gear. 

For more details, check out our post on Custom All Star Catchers Gear to learn more about what's available and where you can order this gear.

In Summary

Hopefully this guide gave you a high level overview of all the All Star catchers gear available for catchers.

Their gear is available for baseball and fastpitch softball catchers playing at advanced levels down through youth leagues.

We are not necessarily recommending every piece of equipment in the above tables.

Rather, it's our intention to simply inform you of your options when choosing catchers gear, and to provide an idea of the large scope of available equipment made by All Star.  

While there are many good brands that make catchers gear, All Star has stood out by focusing on innovation, good design, and high-quality gear for catchers for many years now.

Because of this, we wouldn't be surprised if All Star continued to increase in popularity over the coming years.  

Frequently Asked Questions About All Star

Question: What year did All Star become a company?

Answer: All Star - whose formal name is All-Star Sporting Goods - was started back in 1960. They remain a family-owned business.

Question: Where is All Star located?

Answer: All Star's headquarters is in Shirley, Massachusetts. Shirley is about 40 miles northwest of Boston.

Question: Does All Star only make equipment for catchers?

Answer: The large majority of all the products that All Star makes is for catchers. They do also make some protective gear for umpires, training gloves for infielders, and some generic baseball gear (like wristbands, t-shirts, belts, etc). 

Question: Do MLB catchers use All Star catchers gear?

Answer: Yes, a handful of big league catchers use All Star catching equipment. Check out our article on MLB catcher brands to learn more. 

Question: When will the Mixlab open back up?

Answer: We do not know when the Mixlab will be open again. Take a look at All Star's website or send them a message if you'd like more details.

Question: Does All Star also make Under Armour catchers gear?

Answer: Yes, All Star also manufactures Under Armour catchers gear. Visit our article on common questions about catchers gear to learn more. 

Thanks for Reading!

We hope this guide was helpful to you. If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to reach out by heading over to the Contact Us page. 

 

Sources: 

• All information is current as of the date of publication as found on All Star's website.
• Please note: Catchers Home has no affiliation with All-Star Sporting Goods.