Don't hold your breath on Cobra MBs

sandy · July 1, 2006

Article and Interview on Cobra equipment

I heard an interesting interview and read a similar one in this weeks GolfWeek with the president of Cobra talking about Ogilvy's clubs. He thought it was "great" that the public could buy 5-6 things that Geof uses (including the ball). He went on to say they WILL NOT make the Muscle Back forged irons that Geof played available to the public even though they are redoing all their irons. Since the wedges, balls, putter, and fairway wood were all Titleist (did say the three wood was part of Titleist next offerings) it basically it came down to the public could buy the forged CB 2 iron that he was using. The driver is Tour only model(not a special titanium by the way :cheesy: ). Cosmetically it has two differences from the retail X speed. Big block white letters on the toe (COBRA) for advertising in pictures but a much longer hosel than the retail model. This is so they can more easily bend the face angle and club lie angle for the pros, other than that the club remains the same as the retail. He said even the shaft he was using can be purchased (Aldila NV Proto I think). So everyone should go try out those Cobra forged 2 irons. In other words sales of Cobra still remain on a demo basis---which was already pretty darn good since they are one of three companies that has driver sales in the double digits (pre this new Cobra staff formation)--TM and Callaway the others.

martineli69 · July 1, 2006

Thanks for the info.. Too bad those sweet irons are not going to be available... not even in minimal quantities.... :cheesy:

vthokie1157 · July 1, 2006

sweet...great info, glad to hear that the 906 is def coming up but it sux that the mbs arent being released, i think that they could help out cobra a lot too

sandy · July 2, 2006

Actually since the muscle backs resemble many that have been done before by MacGregor so aren't that unusual except in their availability, I would be interested in getting a hold of one of those drivers to see how much you could open the face (and thereby lower the loft) without cracking the paint. That might explain also why we won't see many HS9s on tour if they aren't just production heads because any twisting of the head would probably dislodge the carbon inserts. While the F and X HS9s are better looking than the speeds at address no one is going to go "OH YEAH THAT DEFINITELY LOOKS SQUARE".

It seems as the article says that Cobra is more interested in the "Buzz" from tour wins as opposed to actually selling the equipment used.

Ascan · July 3, 2006

I read that there are only a handful of the Cobra mb sets in existence and the dies (right word?) used to forged them had been destroyed so there will be no more. TIFWIW.

sandy · July 3, 2006

I read that there are only a handful of the Cobra mb sets in existence and the dies (right word?) used to forged them had been destroyed so there will be no more. TIFWIW.

There are between 5-6 sets in existence but the dies wouldn't have been destroyed. Many reasons---Investment ($60,000+), MacGregor owns them, what if one of the Cobra players hits a rock and destroys one. Many reasons why it would be silly/irresponsible to destroy the dies. It does however cost an arm and a leg to get small runs done by the forging house so I'm sure they might have enough heads for a couple more sets but certainly nothing of any volume. I know a very very well connected individual that gets virtually anything from the tour from any company (here, europe, asia etc.) and the best he has been able to do on these irons is possibly he could get a set if one of their pros returned his set and none of the other guys wanted or needed them, but realistically not before late next winter.

rhersch · July 5, 2006

I saw a set today in Cobras tour van. They are awesome. They were putting together several combo sets for a couple of there players. They were very clean looking. If they brought them to retail they would do well.

sandy · July 5, 2006

I saw a set today in Cobras tour van. They are awesome. They were putting together several combo sets for a couple of there players. They were very clean looking. If they brought them to retail they would do well.

Probably wouldn't do all that well after people demoed them. I had an opportunity to hit some balls with a set and they make Titleist/Mizuno/TM stuff look almost midsized. They are very small heads with very thin soles particularly in the long irons---very much old school compared to today's forged irons. Probably a main reason why MacGregor didn't choose to market these as they would be beautiful corpses on dealer's shelves (fantastic examples of 1950/60s classic designs just with shorter hosels). Every pro that has them has dumped immediately the 2 iron and some the 3 iron (butter knifes)--in favor of fairway or the forged CB of Cobras. In reality Cobra might not even offer the forged CB next year and is spending most of their efforts redesigning their main money makers in irons 2300 etc..(although that ain't much in the scheme of things). That is the latest from the horses mouth as of 7/5/06.

Extreme Firepower · July 6, 2006

Send those 2 & 3 irons to me :cheesy:

I have an old Titleist Tour model 1 iron where the ball actually looks bigger than the club head.

Yes, I want flat sharp bottomed compact heads with high muscle... problem is Titleist don't even offer it so what chance do we have of Cobra ever doing anything like it ??

Can only dream of a modern day equiv of the Cobra Norman tour blades, reverse muscle... tidy!

rhersch · July 6, 2006

Sandy is right, the heads are very compact. Almost to small. I thought the short irons looked awesome.

sandy · July 6, 2006

Sandy is right, the heads are very compact. Almost to small. I thought the short irons looked awesome.

I actually had an old set of MacGregor Customs (vintage 1967) with me when I hit these and even the 1 iron I had with this set was longer from heel to toe than the 2 iron of this Cobra set. Both just barely cover the ball with the face scoring at address.

Just heard today that HS9 X series drivers have been pushed back to 7/20 for first shipment. The Fs and Ms aren't doing very well so far---people are still favoring the speed stuff. I guess they don't want to pay $399. I know a small store that has them for $359 and they haven't sold one (you must be a club member for that price).

Extreme Firepower · July 7, 2006

Sandy is right, the heads are very compact. Almost to small. I thought the short irons looked awesome.

I actually had an old set of MacGregor Customs (vintage 1967) with me when I hit these and even the 1 iron I had with this set was longer from heel to toe than the 2 iron of this Cobra set. Both just barely cover the ball with the face scoring at address.

Just heard today that HS9 X series drivers have been pushed back to 7/20 for first shipment. The Fs and Ms aren't doing very well so far---people are still favoring the speed stuff. I guess they don't want to pay $399. I know a small store that has them for $359 and they haven't sold one (you must be a club member for that price).

The HS9 F and M's are the most shockingly closed driver heads I've ever seen so I doubt the X won't do too well unless it's actually square. Strange, the Speed series didn't start off too well on release but the HS9 has prob boosted sales by sitting next to the sppeds in the racks & by being so crookedly closed it's opened peoples eyes :cheesy:

golftx · July 8, 2006

You have to remember who Cobra is targeting with the M and F Speed and HS9 product. A closed face is actually going to help a large % of players and probably more if they could put their ego's aside.

sandy · July 8, 2006

You have to remember who Cobra is targeting with the M and F Speed and HS9 product. A closed face is actually going to help a large % of players and probably more if they could put their ego's aside.

They aren't the only ones. The open face addresses many tour players problems. VJ for instance wants to totally take out the left side of the fairway. Others it is a way of lowering the loft. I was told by a number of guys they actually like .5 to 1 degree closed. Their names were Zuback, Pavlet etc.----that's right the Pinnacle Long Drive team. They felt it helped turn the ball over better than an open face. Plus they aren't looking for lower lofts since those are provided. A 4.5 or 6.5 with a open face becomes a real chore with a XX or XXX shaft. So different face angles for different jobs. So if you think it is an ego thing think again.

golftx · July 9, 2006

I think you may have misunderstood me. The Cobra target audience is the 8 and up guy. A large majority of these players benefit from closed faces. On the ego side, there are a lot of mid to high handicap guys do not want to use this product cause of the way it looks rather than how it performs.

Long drive guys and tour guys help brand awarness and sales, of course open faces and a million other things are what these guys like but obviously they are not the target audience that retail product is built for.

sandy · July 9, 2006

I think you may have misunderstood me. The Cobra target audience is the 8 and up guy. A large majority of these players benefit from closed faces. On the ego side, there are a lot of mid to high handicap guys do not want to use this product cause of the way it looks rather than how it performs.

Long drive guys and tour guys help brand awarness and sales, of course open faces and a million other things are what these guys like but obviously they are not the target audience that retail product is built for.

No I didn't misunderstand you. My point was if anyone should/could/would have an ego it might be the long drive guys and they aren't phased by a "closed looking" face in fact seek them out.