That is a good point. The JPX line was always the more forgiving mid to higher cap line...but then the JPX tours came out for Brooks, and he went crazy with them. It's now no longer just for higher caps so more people are looking towards them. I think having the HMB and the JPX Tours kind of blurs the line of the two, but I think looks wise keeps them in their own lanes.
Mizuno MP-20 Irons
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- #777
I kind of feel like that is somewhat par for the course with Mizuno. They push out irons that are gorgeous, but I feel like the release at a time when there aren't other new releases out there. So they get a lot of attention and love early on, and then when the rest of the industry unloads their new lines, Mizuno becomes yesterday's news.
Now that is nothing on the sale of the product or how good they are. Having spent plenty of time with JPX900 and MP18, I think they make fantastic irons.
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Do you think that is trending towards changing? Meaning we saw that from PING for years and they said they do better in their late launch than January launch because of less new traffic. Although that seems to be changing as years go on and companies release schedule is far less standardized.
I thought the HMB part of this line would have constant buzz. It seems that the players that jumped on them don’t talk about them much.
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- #779
You know I thought the same about the Hot Metal Pro because it hit a pretty damn good segment for them. After some initial buzz, it went away fairly quickly IMO for such a good iron. HMB is right there with it.
You know how I love to talk release cycles/dates. It's something that has historically interested me as to what it does for a company/product line. The last few years have been really unpredictable as you said. Do I think it changes for Mizuno? I really don't know because I am super confused by their recent push in to the metalwood game. From afar, its almost like this past year, they didn't want their irons to outshine the new wood lineup. Although talked about more, their wood game has mostly been here today, gone tomorrow. So releasing one series in January around show time might make them hang in to the conversation a bit longer, whereas the irons MIGHT be able to be a constant in the conversation. But here is just another example where they really don't and after a nice late summer release, they've been swallowed up by the other traffic.
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So its damned if you do and damned if you dont.
Interesting note on iron sales for them. The last 12-18 months have been rock solid. In fact I think it was back in August they had one of their biggest months ever. Obviously Brooks doesn’t hurt things.
I can't speak to what's happening or not in the wider golf landscape. I only know my experience. Playing MP-18, I didn't find the MP-20 lineup to be enough of a change for a switch. I will give them time again as we get into the season and could, of course, change my mind. MB/MMC mix would be fantastic. I thought the HMB might be an option, but the hollow irons for the most part haven't been my thing. JPX 919 Tour with a combo mix at some point is currently the most tempting to me right now in Mizuno world. I think the 919 line is a little more forgiving for my swing with similar great feel and consistent performance. And there are a lot of solid club options out there. Meanwhile MP-18 MMC's do the job really well. New recoil shafts have given them some extra life too.
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- #783
I tend to agree. I was genuinely assuming that HMB would change that because of the stark difference, but I guess not.
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I think that makes sense. The general consensus is people tend to stop talking about their Mizuno irons after they get them. Its not as if the MP-18 line was blowing up with reviews prior to this one being launched.
I'm also looking ahead to potential releases later this season. JPX update? i210 update? Apex update? Z-series update? Any of those would get my attention. And end of summer is a better time for me to purchase irons. At that point I am in the flow of playing and can test on grass. I am very much over hitting off mats.
I ordered one when I bought my set but haven’t hit it yet.
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Go steel or carbon fiber?
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Maybe. They do outsell a lot of very popular brands in irons currently. I think golfers love the idea of talking about their gear, until it comes to talking about their gear. Hahahah.
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Guilty! (Not sure if your specifically referring to amateur golfers or pros)...But, I haven't had much to say since I bought mine. I was toward the end of our season here and have just been playing simulator golf but my HMBs are great! I went to the MP20 PW now and have considered doing the same with the 9i as I prefer a sharper leading edge on the short irons but I am concerned with creating too large of a gap between 8-9.
The HMBs feel better than the MP18 MMCs and are as forgiving and long as the MP18 MMC FliHi. I haven't found a better combination of those characteristics for me. I have found longer and more forgiving and I have found some with better feel but these seem to combine to two exceptionally well.
I can probably add a little color commentary here as I jumped on the HMBs early. The HMBs - for me - were soooo good the day I hit them at the store and they still are good, but these are a rare breed of a players distance iron. I played the MP 18 MMC last year and really expected these to be a little more forgiving and a little longer. So far that has not been my experience. I am about the same distance as the MMC and see a little loss of feel and control as I migrate from the sweet spot as compared to the MMC. And the turf interaction is a little less forgiving for me when I am steep. However, as you know, I have been making some big changes to my swing and am improving quite a bit on ball striking (which you don't know
) and have developed better angle of attack on the ball (think -2 to -4 as opposed to -4 to -6). These clubs are now coming alive for me. The feel is soooo good when compressing a ball - not as good when sweeping the ball. When I was steep and more glancing in my strikes, I was seeing more ballooning too. Now, my trajectories are more piercing and the irons are much more consistent for distance dispersion. So, long story short - these irons, IMO, are much closer to a players iron up through the 7i and may be leaving some people a little underwhelmed if they came to them wanting a competitor with other players distance irons. I think these are geared to good ball strikers who compress the ball properly (not that this is me consistently, but it has been in stretches recently). I will do a comparison with the Forged Tecs when I get those in hand if that will be helpful. Sorry if this is rambling - I only have a few minutes and just put up my initial thoughts. I will give it a MUCH better analysis in a few weeks.
I am a big fan of all the Mizuno product line. They all sell very well and are still moving. I love that Mizuno is now a full line company and has everything. Woods, irons, wedges, putters, ball, bags.
We sell a ton of Mizuno stuff. Especially irons and wedges.
We sell a ton of Mizuno stuff. Especially irons and wedges.
Its currently matches to me set with an $-Taper, but I may throw a Catalyst in it at some point.
I do know, that after hitting a bunch of different lines, if I got the chance to just snag an iron set off the wall right now, it would be Mizuno. the MP-20 MMC's were phenomenal for me, but so were the 919 forged. But yea I wonder if it's almost like people feel they are beating a dead horse with Mizuno irons due to the idea that everyone just kinda knows Mizuno's perform.
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There is still a very limited market for these clubs. My guess is that the blade playing
Golfers that were considering a switch to the MP20 have done so. As much as I love the SEL set I still would prefer a set of the 919 tours.
Golfers that were considering a switch to the MP20 have done so. As much as I love the SEL set I still would prefer a set of the 919 tours.
brmil
Active member
I've been drooling over these irons for a while now, and finally found a good deal on a set! I've hit them a handful of times on a launch monitor and love the way they feel! They will be my first set of blades, so it will be interesting to see how I do with them!
MP-20 MB 4-PW. They should ship out early this week!
MP-20 MB 4-PW. They should ship out early this week!
I feel part of the equation is that for some of us golf is a seasonal sport. The MP20 line was just being released as our season was winding down and and unless you had a place to try them out inside you are out of luck. Now with the season starting and demo days beginning to rollout in the northern areas there should be more golfers getting these in their hands to try and a renewed buzz about them. Personally, I'm hoping to get my first in hand look at them today at the local(2hr. drive) golf expo.
I think for a lot of mizuno blade players if they were already in mp18 there really wasn't much reason to switch. The copper underlay did feel nice but profile wise the mp20 was very similar. Compared to mp5 the mp20 did have a nicer looking 8-PW and slightly shorter blade length. MP4 looked a lot smaller and predates the HD Grain Flowed forging.
I think people that liked the forgiving blade aspect of mp5 probably moved to the jpx919 tour. Having owned both the 919 tour and mp20 blade I liked the 919 tour better.
If anything I was more disappointed with the HMB. It was muted which while sounding pleasing didn't feel hot off the face for a driving/utility iron performance. Especially considering the HMP already existed.
Mizuno has an extremely extensive lineup and if anything has a lot of overlap in their lines. HMB competes against both the forged and HMP and the JPX tour competes against both the MMC and Blade.
I think people that liked the forgiving blade aspect of mp5 probably moved to the jpx919 tour. Having owned both the 919 tour and mp20 blade I liked the 919 tour better.
If anything I was more disappointed with the HMB. It was muted which while sounding pleasing didn't feel hot off the face for a driving/utility iron performance. Especially considering the HMP already existed.
Mizuno has an extremely extensive lineup and if anything has a lot of overlap in their lines. HMB competes against both the forged and HMP and the JPX tour competes against both the MMC and Blade.
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Anyone who has played the apex 19 combo set out there have a comparison to the mp20 hmb’s? I have a set of combo’s that I am thinking about trading for a set a hmb’s
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