Inexpensive Forged Game-ish improvement irons.

[loki993]

Just to start with some background on what I am used to hitting, I have played mostly Ping irons as long as I have played golf. Started with Eye2s, struggled with i3 blades for a couple seasons, back to the eye2s and most recently I am playing Raptures with probably too light shafts that coincidently I got from Japan and were supposed to be J specs but they are actually US spec raptures. They were in great condition, have upgraded shafts in them and the ebay seller gave me a pretty decent discount for the mistake so I kept them and I actually hit them pretty well. 

 

I have a decent swing that I am working on improving, lessons, but I should probably still be in a game improvement irons but I do like the looks of the players distance category. Just the overall not as chonky look

 

I have noticed that with JDM stuff they do have some nice forged GI to slightly better players irons. Also they have been doing this longer so it seems there are older sets out there that are reasonably priced with at least some, if not all of the tech, we are used to seeing relatively recently here. PRGR RS forged for 2016 for example, a forged, hollowbodied irons, If I read the spec correctly for 2016? nice. etc. Just am example that I've found. On the Nike side Machspeed forged which appears to be 100 percent GI and forged, sort of cool but also a bit shovely, but probably a dream to hit I would imagine. 

 

So I have been poking around buyee, ebay, golfpartnerus looking at stuff. Mostly Nike stuff recently because they seem to be some sort of unnatural obsessions with me recently but Im always on the lookout for something cool JDM because in the back of my head I know Ill likely get something maybe better and definitly a better deal. 

 

I am basically a JDM club newbie though so I see something interesting and I look it up to see if there are any reviews but that's really about all the knowledge I have. 

 

So with all that said, if one was looking for a Forged, relatively easy to hit game improvement to players distance iron for under 400 bucks what should I be looking for? Something not super chonky if we can help it. 

The price may limit options and I know they will definitely be on the older side, but I've always played older clubs.  Also I want something easy to get a hold of just to kind of test the waters a bit. golfpartnerUSA seems like an easy way to go and their prices seem ok and I also don't mind wading into the waters of something like Buyee or other proxy services to find things. The hunt can be a bit of the fun too. 

Edited January 27 by loki993

[subrew]

I have many sets of forged JDM stuff, and occasionally come across some slightly stronger lofted options.  Maruman comes to mind, because they are known for doing a deep undercut on their longer irons.  So you get some benefits of a bit of GI, in terms of lofts, forgiveness, but they are still in a fairly compact package.  I picked up this set of iron heads for less than $150 a few months ago.  These are "before" photos, so still a bit grubby.

 

 

 

 

[loki993]

I don't know that I'm looking for anything stronger lofted unless there is a specific reason i should be. Im playing nearly 20 year old irons right now so they aren't loft jacked. 

[subrew]

By stonger lofted, I mean 2* stronger, .i.e 32* 7-iron.  

[loki993]

oh, well that's not bad, would still like a few other recommendations if anyone has them. Also Golfpartner doesn't really have a lot of Maruman stuff on their site right now. 

Edited January 28 by loki993

[Ger21]

OnOff forged kuros, either 2013 or 2015.

The gold standard.

[loki993]

Ive heard about those. Ill look. So even though they are one piece forged they still have good forgiveness?

 

I know the newer ones have moved way the other way to a hollow bodied club, any opinions on those?

 

 

Also I will ask this question because Im seeing some things here, are the Kruos something I need to worry about fakes? or any of these clubs really. I ask because as I said before Ive been poking around the Japan auction sites for some Nikes, specifically Japan spec pro Combos, and the condition I've seen most of those clubs in is much worse that the few 2015 Kuros Im seeing, at least from the crappy pics they usually out up for clubs. Not that the Pro combs were really poor, just they generally have ton of bag chatter and some decent chatter on the faces too. As for the Kuros, same year 2015 as the pro combos, there are a few right now that are in what are in used but overall really good shape with minimal chatter

Edited January 29 by loki993

[Ger21]

No, there are no OnOff fakes that I'm aware of. I just paid about $375 for a 5-PW set from Japan, in excellent condition. I added a practically un-hit 4 iron for another $100. Both purchased through Ebay from Japan.

 

 

 

 

The 2013 versions are/were more abundant, and are very similar. I bought the nicest set I could find after a few months of looking.

 

 

7 hours ago, loki993 said:

Ive heard about those. Ill look. So even though they are one piece forged they still have good forgiveness?

They are pretty deep cavities, and the 7iron and up have a lot of tungsten in the sole to help with launch. Super soft feeling, too.

I used to play VR Pro blades, and had a VR CB 3 iron. I would say the OnOff has a bit more forgiveness, and are easier to launch.

[loki993]

Well Im officially looking at all the sites for a set of 2015 Kuros then. There are a few decent looking ones but they all have the MP715 graphite shafts which I am assuming its a 75 gram shaft. The Raptures have light Fubukis in them and I think they are bit too light for me so I think Im going back to steel and heavier, so something like the NS pro 950s or Modus 105s, which do seem to show up in the Kuros, just seemingly not nearly as much as the the 715 graphites. 

[Ger21]

Mine came with DG S200 in them. I replaced them with AMT White X100.

[BigMac_Finn]

On 1/27/2024 at 10:44 AM, loki993 said:

Just to start with some background on what I am used to hitting, I have played mostly Ping irons as long as I have played golf. Started with Eye2s, struggled with i3 blades for a couple seasons, back to the eye2s and most recently I am playing Raptures with probably too light shafts that coincidently I got from Japan and were supposed to be J specs but they are actually US spec raptures. They were in great condition, have upgraded shafts in them and the ebay seller gave me a pretty decent discount for the mistake so I kept them and I actually hit them pretty well. 

 

I have a decent swing that I am working on improving, lessons, but I should probably still be in a game improvement irons but I do like the looks of the players distance category. Just the overall not as chonky look

 

I have noticed that with JDM stuff they do have some nice forged GI to slightly better players irons. Also they have been doing this longer so it seems there are older sets out there that are reasonably priced with at least some, if not all of the tech, we are used to seeing relatively recently here. PRGR RS forged for 2016 for example, a forged, hollowbodied irons, If I read the spec correctly for 2016? nice. etc. Just am example that I've found. On the Nike side Machspeed forged which appears to be 100 percent GI and forged, sort of cool but also a bit shovely, but probably a dream to hit I would imagine. 

 

So I have been poking around buyee, ebay, golfpartnerus looking at stuff. Mostly Nike stuff recently because they seem to be some sort of unnatural obsessions with me recently but Im always on the lookout for something cool JDM because in the back of my head I know Ill likely get something maybe better and definitly a better deal. 

 

I am basically a JDM club newbie though so I see something interesting and I look it up to see if there are any reviews but that's really about all the knowledge I have. 

 

So with all that said, if one was looking for a Forged, relatively easy to hit game improvement to players distance iron for under 400 bucks what should I be looking for? Something not super chonky if we can help it. 

The price may limit options and I know they will definitely be on the older side, but I've always played older clubs.  Also I want something easy to get a hold of just to kind of test the waters a bit. golfpartnerUSA seems like an easy way to go and their prices seem ok and I also don't mind wading into the waters of something like Buyee or other proxy services to find things. The hunt can be a bit of the fun too. 

Look here: 

 

There is a whole discussion on exactly what you're looking for. They are amazing and clubs from Proto are good. I didn't go this route as I didn't fit into them as well, but look, feel, forgiveness, distance, etc.. are great! 

 

Also get a hold of Aspendirectgolf.com He will even let you hit them with some shafts.. Just give a credit card and blast away.. I did this plus a few others here and helped me decide on the direction since there is no easy way to find JDM clubs other than major name brands (Mizuno, Srixon, XXIO, etc..)

 

[loki993]

21 hours ago, BigMac_Finn said:

Look here: 

 

There is a whole discussion on exactly what you're looking for. They are amazing and clubs from Proto are good. I didn't go this route as I didn't fit into them as well, but look, feel, forgiveness, distance, etc.. are great! 

 

Also get a hold of Aspendirectgolf.com He will even let you hit them with some shafts.. Just give a credit card and blast away.. I did this plus a few others here and helped me decide on the direction since there is no easy way to find JDM clubs other than major name brands (Mizuno, Srixon, XXIO, etc..)

 

 

Yeah, Im looking to spend like 400 for a set not nearly 400 per club. Therye nice though....

[elwhippy]

Wilson Staff D9 Forged if it is sold in Japan. Looks good, solid feel and amazing value. 

[Eazy Mac]

I actually just ordered a set of the Bridgestone JGR HF2s from golfpartner. Nice soft iron in more of a larger package, strongish lofts (24 deg 5 iron). Great feel and looks, not overly chunky, check out the reviews of them. I know Honma has some forged iron models as well that are on the larger side

[Hari_Selden]

Depending on what you consider expensive, I'm really liking some Honma 747 Vx's right now.

[gemo]

Honma TW-X is forged and can be found in your price range. I have a set as well as a set of 2019 Onoff Kuros (the first hollow body version) which are also forged. Good thing about the tw-x is if you are looking to get longer irons than come with the set you find, they are prevalent and cheap, as they produced a ton to be sold as driving irons. The 3 iron is especially prevalent.

 

I wonder if the reason you see onoff stuff that looks relatively new is that while their performance is great, their style cachet is (or at least was) also high, so you'd get people buying them just to look good at the range. My set were chattered all to hell and I got them for dirt cheap.

 

Sadly I'm not good enough of a golfer to comment on function, but I will say that the swing weighting assembly quality, and length measurements on my Kuros are dead on, which is more than I can say for several domestic OEM sets I've seen lately.

 

[NerdyGolfer]

On 2/1/2024 at 12:07 PM, loki993 said:

 

Yeah, Im looking to spend like 400 for a set not nearly 400 per club. Therye nice though....

You'd be surprised, they are $320/ head pre-discount (tell them you're from Golfwrx)

[Binson]

Epon 7XX or 5XX might be worth a look. I see some online second hand for around $500 for the set that are in good shape.  It's good value for an Endo forged set of clubs that have forgiveness to them. 

[indianagolf2]

Touragolf.com...japan forged and blank heads. Check ebay for honma,new or mizuno new 

[zenman4711]

Yamaha is another JDM you should look at. Anything 2011, 2012.

[mstuewe]

On 2/1/2024 at 9:07 AM, loki993 said:

 

Yeah, Im looking to spend like 400 for a set not nearly 400 per club. Therye nice though....

Maltby TS3 or the TS1 if you want to save a bit more money.