"Different" colored irons apologies and thoughts

Rummpd

Well-known member
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Messages
1,411
Reaction score
677
Location
Near DC
Handicap
9
Apologies up front - a week or so ago I got hammered appropriately for using the term :"gimmick" to describe a club that was copper colored and may wear unless had a tech advantage. I actually have taught marketing in the realm of public health (social marketing) and meant to say that it was a great sales/marketing tool and that personally I would not pay much (see below) extra but fine to those that do.

In fact, I have owned colored irons and wedges from MacGregor's decades stunning old copper inserts to beryllium Ping Eye 2s (legend has came from old Navy propellers and were perfect for pulling lightweight molds) and then have had rusty wedges, nickel wedges and love the look of the blueish Vokey's. I would surely buy a set based on cosmetics if I really liked them and would also jump readily if there was a tech advantage. I normally like the usual iron or steel color but am flexible.

Question back? How much extra will you pay for a color such as copper, nickel or black if it did not provide a tech advantage or better feel? I personally might go +20% but depends on club and what else is out there.
 
I remember some copper insert MacGregors I had as a youth, boy were they heavy. I'm not sure I'd pay extra for color only, but I like some of the copper colored & black offerings out there now.
 
This makes me think of the copper plated mizuno and cobra irons, those I think I'd pay more for but not to the tune of 1k extra if that's what they were? I don't know what a set of either of them 3-pw is regular vs. copper plated. But I think the mizuno are 1,500 and the copper were 2500?
I know raw irons are more also.
Black finish, I just can't see spending the extra for the look, but they do help reduce the glare.
Blue wedges, what are they 50 more? possibly do that.
Now if they were a full nickel or copper iron like thee old pings, they were soft, id probably pay the upcharge for them if they were in todays market.
idk, its my opinion.
 
I think just like with everything if it’s a limited edition thing with enough interest it doesn’t matter if there’s tech or not they will move.

if it’s a catalogue set of t100’s in regular finish or t100’s in black finish readily available for the season there’s no way I’m going up 20% increase for them.
 
Question back? How much extra will you pay for a color such as copper, nickel or black if it did not provide a tech advantage or better feel? I personally might go +20% but depends on club and what else is out there.

If no added benefit other than aesthetics, I don't think i would be interested and might not even play them if there was no upcharge. copper, nickel, black whatever.... just doesn't do anything for me, personally. I certainly don't have a problem with anyone else putting them in their bag and enjoying the heck out of them. To each their own.
 
Extra? Not sure. Irons have easily the longest "replacement arc" of any of the categories of clubs (driver, woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putter, broadly speaking) which means if I'm buying a set of irons, I expect to keep them in the bag longer than anything else in there, so I really want them to look and feel the way I want. I've now had a set of black irons for more than 2 years, and I still really like them. I could absolutely see myself paying an extra 10% to get the irons I want in black simply because a) I like how black irons look and b) I wouldn't really be in the market for irons unless I had nearly a blank check, precisely because I don't expect to replace irons at nearly the rate I replace almost anything else in the bag.
 
Not a single cent more except for putters. I thought Callaway had some nice looking black irons a year or so back and had the smoked out shafts. I thought those are nice but was not going to pay extra for it. Clubs are tools to me so having to baby something to keep the color seems dumb to me.

Putters I have inner dialogues with myself but the material is selected for feel. After that the customization could really start to add up. Hell my putter has a twisted neck, serves no purpose except to stand out. lol.
 
I’d gladly pay an extra 10-15% if I liked how they looked. Take the Cobra RADspeed irons for example. They are going to be offered in a black finish shortly with an up charge strictly because of it. I would pay that because I like the look of black finish irons more than satin/chrome.

I would pay more for black finish wedges if it was offered even if there was an up charge. And I would pay more for black/copper/blue/red irons if I liked the look and it was offered.

It’s the same reason Callaway and Taylormade offer custom colors on their drivers and charge for it. Zero performance benefit but it’s an option. People like options and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that :)
 
Back
Top