Are these '73 Hogan Apex's???

[dcopp7]

[dcopp7]

actually, the backs are shiny so I assume 1976-78?

[teevons]

show the face , they might be the anniversary issue, the serial numbers started with an A , the face lines would be straight not curvy??

[dcopp7]

show the face , they might be the anniversary issue, the serial numbers started with an A , the face lines would be straight not curvy??

[twidener]

I still have my set of '73 Apex's that I bought brand new in '73 and the colored ferrule rings are black, silver, red, silver, and then the black ferrule. And my serial number on my set is 158242. No letters. And as teevons mentioned the hitting surface on the face has a curve in it towards the bottom of the face.

[teevons]

thats odd, I always look for the model with the A on the serial numbers because they were the anniversary model, surprized to see curved face lines

[dcopp7]

what do you mean curved? Please explain, what do I have here?

[rex235]

Dcopp-

 

At the bottom of the face at the leading edge, the scoring lines are the longest and longer than the middle lines, so there appears to have a slight radius to them.

 

Am not sure of any LH Anniversary model irons.

 

Check your shaft bands. Are they Apex shafts with numbers 3,4, or 5?

[Will Par]

I have a set I purchased new in 1977 and those are identical. Somewhere on this site in a very old post is a key for the meaning of the serial number. I think that second digit... the 7..indicates they were made in 1977. My set has a 7 in that position. The other digits in the serial number indicate things like month of manufacture, shaft flex, swing weight, etc.

[Will Par]

Found this on a google search that refers to Producer Irons but this is what I remember applied to some Apex models as well:

 

On Sole: "Producer" and iron #; On back of head BH sunburst next to raised "Ben Hogan" signature; Serial number on hosel: Pos 1: = month of yr (ex. B = Feb.); Pos 2: = last digit of year (ex. 5 = 1975); Pos 3-4: model #. (ex. 77); Pos 5: swing wt. (ie 3); Pos 6: stiffness (ie 3 = reg). Apex shafts were standard. Legend shafts from 1977-78

[dcopp7]

So then these are January 1977's. Shaft label is LEGEND 4

[moehogan]

I still have my set of '73 Apex's that I bought brand new in '73 and the colored ferrule rings are black, silver, red, silver, and then the black ferrule. And my serial number on my set is 158242. No letters. And as teevons mentioned the hitting surface on the face has a curve in it towards the bottom of the face.

 

My '73 Apexs have the same ferrule rings and the serial number is 079242 ... red Apex 4 shaft bands.

[teevons]

My computer with all my Hogan pictures is down right now, as soon as it it fixed I will add the picture of the model with the boxed face lines of the anniversary model

I used to have a new in box anniversary set, hopefully I can I find the pictures of them

[dcopp7]

These are definitely vintage. I dunno what year the anniversary model was released but these are old. And they are shiny back, not frosted.

[Will Par]

My serial number is M71242. The next to last digit must be shaft stiffness because my clubs have Apex 4 shafts. The last digit is probably swing weight. Hard to figure what month the letter M signifies for my clubs.

[gsea33]

These are 77 per the serial number and the Legend shaft didn't come out until then.

[T308]

On 7/12/2016 at 7:21 AM, twidener said:

I still have my set of '73 Apex's that I bought brand new in '73 and the colored ferrule rings are black, silver, red, silver, and then the black ferrule. And my serial number on my set is 158242. No letters. And as teevons mentioned the hitting surface on the face has a curve in it towards the bottom of the face.

 

Very old thread, but are you sure it's not an "I" instead of a 1?  I =September (although sometimes this is a lot number), 5=1975, 82 is model number 8200 for 1976MY Apex irons, 4=Apex 4, 2=Swing Weight D-2.  These would be 1976 Model year clubs that were made late in calendar year 1975.  

[twidener]

I checked the serial number again and it looks like this:  I58242 , so it could be the letter "I".  But these are 73's. I got them my junior year when I played in college, which was 73, and played them until probably 78. Lots of college players in Oklahoma were using these irons. They have the frosted back.

[bcstones]

@T308

The '72 Apex's had the "Apex" on the back, the '73-'78 had "Apex on the sole....

 

of the '72 set the 3-9 irons have reg # YE9896 & the Equalizer has nothing disernable. the Shafts are all Apex 1's with black, that gold/green, red going into the black ferrule...

 

While I can barely see registration #s on the "73" set, the 3-8 irons have # L25231. The 9 iron seems to have just "CS" marked on it & I can't find any #s on the 2 or Equalizers. The ferrule rings seem  to have a black, then either a tarnished gold or green, red, gold/green, tho some have only one ring or so. The shafts are all Apex 3, except that the 9 shaft is an Apex 2 & the Equalizer has no band.
 

[T308]

On 8/1/2022 at 10:30 AM, bcstones said:

@T308

The '72 Apex's had the "Apex" on the back, the '73-'78 had "Apex on the sole....

 

of the '72 set the 3-9 irons have reg # YE9896 & the Equalizer has nothing disernable. the Shafts are all Apex 1's with black, that gold/green, red going into the black ferrule...

 

While I can barely see registration #s on the "73" set, the 3-8 irons have # L25231. The 9 iron seems to have just "CS" marked on it & I can't find any #s on the 2 or Equalizers. The ferrule rings seem  to have a black, then either a tarnished gold or green, red, gold/green, tho some have only one ring or so. The shafts are all Apex 3, except that the 9 shaft is an Apex 2 & the Equalizer has no band.
 

The Y codes are custom orders.  YE9896 would be sequential.  Equalizers usually didn't have a reg number.  Apex 1s are ladies shafts.

 

The L25231 set would be calendar year 1972 production date (but still a Model Year 1973), 5200 stock number (1973 Apex), Apex 3 (Regular Shaft) D1 swing weight.   

[T308]

On 8/1/2022 at 10:30 AM, bcstones said:

@T308

The 9 iron seems to have just "CS" marked on it

 

The CS stamp is a regional service repair stamp.

[T308]

On 7/30/2022 at 3:26 PM, twidener said:

I checked the serial number again and it looks like this:  I58242 , so it could be the letter "I".  But these are 73's. I got them my junior year when I played in college, which was 73, and played them until probably 78. Lots of college players in Oklahoma were using these irons. They have the frosted back.

 

When I worked at the RSC we had a list of all the different reg numbers and there were notes on the Apex irons to note the item number for a head replacement as they had evolved over the five year production run.  The 1973 clubs are 5200 series and have a slightly different profile than the later years.  If yours are marked 82 (for 8200) those are 1976MY and would have been available from September 1975.  If you had them in your hands in 1973 they either came from the future or someone, somehow marked them with an item number that didn't exist in 1973.  You note that your clubs have black red and silver trim rings, those are issue points for MY1974-1978 Apex shafted clubs.  MY1973 Apex were issued with Red, Gold and Black trim rings.  Are your shaft bands intact?  Original grips?  Those are also good indicators of production dates. 

[twidener]

Back in the early '70's there was a former club pro that opened his own shop at a small strip mall. He had connections with the Hogan company along with several other companies due to his many years as a club pro. He knew I played Hogan equipment and told me if I ever needed anything from Hogan to just let him know. I got my irons through him. I was thinking about turning pro the next year, I decided not to though, and he helped me out with getting clubs. He also got me a Hogan Commerative driver in '78, about six months before they were released. He called me at my work one day and said he had received 6 Commerative drivers and he was keeping 3 of them for himself and I could come over after work and pick what I wanted from the other 3. I still have that driver. I told him in 1975 I was looking for an older 8802 and one day I get another call to come over to his shop and he had a new 8802 he had gotten from the Wilson rep. It was one they were going to release in the near future. The sole stamping was different. I used that putter when I played in the '75 USGA Public Links Championship in Hawaii. It stayed in my bag until '91. I still have it. Like I said he had connections made through the years and he was a nice guy and would always try to help me out.

[twidener]

I was able to contact a guy who had worked at the shop doing club repairs and asked him about the details on the irons and told him that I began playing them in mid to late September of '73. He said that I probably had received an early release of the '74's. Which makes sense. He said the rings were silver, black and red and AMF had been added to shaft label for the '74 model and there was a minor change to the head design. He also told said that my set was probably a custom order because I had the lies flattened even more than the stock specs and I also had cord grips, which have long ago worn out and were replaced. Lastly he said all of that would have been arranged by the guy who owned the shop and the Hogan rep, as the Hogan company was not really into doing custom work like Wilson or Spalding except for club pros who sold lots of Hogan equipment. And this was all before there was a Hogan staff presence on tour and tour players would have to buy clubs from the Hogan company and they would do some custom work for them.

[SnowbirdTom]

I’m going to look at a set of ‘73s tomorrow in playable condition with original grips.  This info will surely help me determine positively they’re ‘73s

 

I love this place for all the info and experience available.

 

A picture I’m working from.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by SnowbirdTom

[SnowbirdTom]

Ok, at first glance buying these, I thought 1976 because of the color rings, but I believe these are '73s now that I read a bit more.  The rings aren't black/silver/red/silver/black which is causing some internal consternation.  Serial number is B35233, so 52** designates 1973? 

 

Shaft band is black/red with Ben Hogan Apex "3", so regular flex? Original grips!!

 

Rings look green/red/green to me?

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by SnowbirdTom
Add info

[SnowbirdTom]

Alright.  After some serious google fu and digging, I found this info from the Driving Range Heros regarding Hogan Apex irons.

 

Dustin, the second digit on the assembly number is the year. The first Alpha is the Month (A=January, B=February etc.). Second is year (3=1973). Third and fourth are the first two digits of the Hogan stock numbers (Apex are 5200 and 6200 so 52 and 62). Fifth is the shaft stiffness (3 for Regular, 4 Stiff, 5 Xtra Stiff). The last is the swing weight (2=D2).

 

https://drivingrangeheroes.com/who-needs-modern-clubs-meet-my-1973-ben-hogan-apex-irons/

 

Sooo, my clubs (B35233) were built in Feb 1973, stock number 5200 and (3) regular flex shafts with a D3 swing weight.  Yay!!  I can verify the 5200 and 3 are correct, so I'm a**-u-ming the rest is also.  😂

 

Hope this helps all the others who seek this info here.

[weakputt]

58 minutes ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Alright.  After some serious google fu and digging, I found this info from the Driving Range Heros regarding Hogan Apex irons.

 

Dustin, the second digit on the assembly number is the year. The first Alpha is the Month (A=January, B=February etc.). Second is year (3=1973). Third and fourth are the first two digits of the Hogan stock numbers (Apex are 5200 and 6200 so 52 and 62). Fifth is the shaft stiffness (3 for Regular, 4 Stiff, 5 Xtra Stiff). The last is the swing weight (2=D2).

 

https://drivingrangeheroes.com/who-needs-modern-clubs-meet-my-1973-ben-hogan-apex-irons/

 

Sooo, my clubs (B35233) were built in Feb 1973, stock number 5200 and (3) regular flex shafts with a D3 swing weight.  Yay!!  I can verify the 5200 and 3 are correct, so I'm a**-u-ming the rest is also.  😂

 

Hope this helps all the others who seek this info here.

So from this information my Apex Decades, the 10 year anniversary set of the 1973 Apex irons are as follows:

SN# F59042. Made in June of 1985, stock number 90??, stiff flex with a D2 swing weight. 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

2 hours ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Alright.  After some serious google fu and digging, I found this info from the Driving Range Heros regarding Hogan Apex irons.

 

Dustin, the second digit on the assembly number is the year. The first Alpha is the Month (A=January, B=February etc.). Second is year (3=1973). Third and fourth are the first two digits of the Hogan stock numbers (Apex are 5200 and 6200 so 52 and 62). Fifth is the shaft stiffness (3 for Regular, 4 Stiff, 5 Xtra Stiff). The last is the swing weight (2=D2).

 

https://drivingrangeheroes.com/who-needs-modern-clubs-meet-my-1973-ben-hogan-apex-irons/

 

Sooo, my clubs (B35233) were built in Feb 1973, stock number 5200 and (3) regular flex shafts with a D3 swing weight.  Yay!!  I can verify the 5200 and 3 are correct, so I'm a**-u-ming the rest is also.  😂

 

Hope this helps all the others who seek this info here.

 

That seems to make sense for my Hogan '72 Apexes.

G=July

2=1972

42=Apex (I'm guessing for this model they used 4200)

4=Apex 4 shafts (labels are intact)

2= Swingweight D2, which they are.

[T308]

On 8/29/2022 at 5:43 AM, weakputt said:

So from this information my Apex Decades, the 10 year anniversary set of the 1973 Apex irons are as follows:

SN# F59042. Made in June of 1985, stock number 90??, stiff flex with a D2 swing weight. 

 

Hogan changed the methodology in 1983.  They dropped the year and put three digits of the item number instead.  They were not making substantive changes year to year on the clubs so the replacements weren't year dependent as they'd been in previous years.  So for yours, F is lot number, 5900 is Decade.  Apex 4 shaft and D2.