Victus Sports is no stranger to viral moments.
Just last month, the company landed the best-selling bat in the country with its “Pencil Bat,” which caught fire after Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott used it during the Little League Classic game.
Another one of the custom bats produced for Players’ Weekend, a Backyard Baseball Pablo Sanchez bat used by Bobby Witt Jr., planted the seed for the company’s next hit.
On Friday, Victus began selling “The Secret Weapon” collection, named after Backyard Baseball’s iconic character, Pablo Sanchez. The collection sold out in less than 3 minutes.
Included in the release were limited-edition Sanchez bats, numbered to 50, and Sanchez baseball cards, including seven cracked ice refractors.
“From the first call, we were excited, and we could sense their excitement for Backyard Sports and for Backyard Baseball,” Victus Sports CEO Jared Smith told cllct. “Then our thought process turned into, OK, how can we make this a viral moment on field with them?”
Witt Jr. used the bat to clobber his 25th home run, the distance of which (430 feet) doubled as the price tag ($430), though the drop was not an official collaboration with Witt Jr.
As anticipation for the return of the Backyard Baseball video game heats up, the partnership with the company is an ideal match made as the two viral brands are uniquely equipped to capitalize on the moment.
“Once it did go viral and turned into a moment, we decided to commemorate it by launching a collaborative project,” Smith said. “And it just so happens that they are launching the game here in the very near future as well.”
The Victus brand has leaned heavily into the collectibility of its products, utilizing an in-house artist and frequently producing limited-edition releases, never revisiting the same project again.
Smith views each release as a piece of art — all are hand-painted — and says that spirit comes from the enthusiasm of the team at Victus, made up of collectors who understand what makes people want to collect something.
Said Smith: “We’re just trying to make something out of the moment and create a collectors piece for people that appreciate it.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.