My son was struck on the rt. side of the head just above the temple last season in college by a lefty with an extremely long follow through on his swing. He was wearing an AllStar skull cap and titanium mask. He recieved a pretty good concussion, but went back to wearing the skull cap. In winterball he got another concussion from a routine foul tip which hit the front of his mask, pitcher throwing in high 70's. Granted he has had this type of foul tip hundreds of times over the last 4 years with no issues. This concussion was less then 6 months from the earlier one.
I contacted AllStar re: difference in impact from old school mask/titanium vs the new AllStar A4000 hockey mask. They shared that their research showed that 90mph fastball impact in area of the eyes with old school mask was in the 70-90 critical impact range (I could have that scales name wrong but the 70-90 is correct) The A4000 range was always in the single digit range (ie less then 10) Pretty significant, they stated helmet was redesigned.
He has been wearing the Newer hockey helmet this season, which just started last week. Several 90mph foul tips off the mask so far and a collision at home while wearing the helmet with no issues.
The hockey mash has much more padding then the skull cap and more side impact protection.
My son says the helmet is comfortable and didnt take much time to adjust to.