Mizuno irons, what was your last fave cb/mb.

[Mp14forlife]

I've been disappointed with Mizuno and their lineups of late. Except in their distance type players irons, 225 was pretty great..but with their CB/MB's it seems like long gone are the days of a forgiving cb with players lofts or a forgiving-ish blade..

Now it seems like they want to widdle down the cb to an MB and the MB is harder to hit than past MB's from Mizuno. And what is now considered their forgiving cb, it has become a low lofted rocket launcher, the "243."  Even in the jpx line, the 919 tour was fairly forgiving but then it was followed up by a widdled down bladier 921/923 tour.

Wish they would go back to a chrome mp64 type CB for their players cb and maybe a one off mp5 type forgiving MB every couple cycles. 

Am I completely up in the night on this? Or any one else feel this way? 

[MizfanboyMP18]

I personally found the 225 to be too long. I would be over shooting greens and catching fliers. From my understanding they are making their irons more compact, but not less forgiving. For me the mp 18  line was a solid all arounder. I now play the mp 18 mb 4-pw in my walking bag, but i used the sc, mmc and the flihi from that line as well. I just bought the pro s3 and found them to be more forgiving then you would think. I have a soft spot for the mp 53 as that was my first set of mizunos and I loved them. I will also throw in I have bought and sold 4 sets of mp 14s whenever I feel like I want to go back to blades and just have fun.  I tried some ping irons this past year and will not do that again you cannot beat the mizunos on feel and quality. 

[RogerinNewZealand]

Pro S3, glad its working for you

Mp53, yes i had mp52 great clubs

Mp5 must have been The Set

From last 8ish years that gets Baselined.

Might try mp 18 mb set this xmas

 

People only need 9 8 7 6

In a lot of bags now with hybrids or distance driving irons in place

[PowerCobra98]

Gonna go with MP5's.  Try as I might I can't find anything that works better for me in the package I want.

 

I would love for Mizuno to make a true MP5 successor but I'm afraid they'll probably never go down that road again.  

[shanx]

Kinda "grew up" on Mizuno. MP14, 29, 32 33, 37). Last Mizuno set I owned was MP15. Gamed them for a while, jumped over to Cally (07 X Forged, 18 X Forged Combo), now Titleist AP2/T100. 

 

Tried one of the newer HMB bladelike sets at a fitting day a few years ago, felt and played nothing like what I was used to. Hit an older MP18 6 iron in the bay at PGASS last week, it felt okay.

 

Someday I'll get a set of MP33s, or 32s, very fond of those two sets..

Edited July 28 by shanx

[jjthomp2]

64’s and 20’s still waiting on a cb like the 64’s to come back along 

[Red4282]

The newer mbs and cbs are not harder to hit  or less forgiving than the older ones.

[Ben B]

I love my MP-18s. So pure. The way they transitioned the hosel into the leading edge is probably my favorite of all Mizunos. 

[GolfGuitarsCars]

MX-23

[Phabs]

MP5’s were the last great blade 

CB’s there’s been plenty 

[GMR2iron]

3 hours ago, shanx said:

Kinda "grew up" on Mizuno. MP14, 29, 32 33, 37). Last Mizuno set I owned was MP15. Gamed them for a while, jumped over to Cally (07 X Forged, 18 X Forged Combo), now Titleist AP2/T100. 

 

Tried one of the newer HMB bladelike sets at a fitting day a few years ago, felt and played nothing like what I was used to. Hit an older MP18 6 iron in the bay at PGASS last week, it felt okay.

 

Someday I'll get a set of MP33s, or 32s, very fond of those two sets..

I’m with you. First was33’s, they got stolen, then got 30’s, was not fond of those. Then 32’s, to 69’s, to a 69/64 combo.

The 69’s are probably my favorite, but I would love to see a modern day 33.

[wam78]

64’s for cb’s.  Man I miss those.  5’s for blades.  Two of my favs from the last decade.

[bnperrone]

I had T-Zoid pros in the late 90s until I got fitted for a combo set of mp32 and mp60s in 2005. I played them for about 15 years then I started wanting something new. I tried too many things during Covid times and ultimately found myself chasing feel and, eventually, some more spin than modern irons produce. As it turns out I also realized I like some more bounce, and the PXG 0211ST wound up being the absolute best club for me and was half the price of everything else.

[NRJyzr]

MS-11 / MP-11 are the blades for me.  Honorable mention to the MP-14

 

[grochol17]

Forgiving means different things to different people, but the specs that Maltby measures don't back up your claims about the clubs getting less forgiving over time.  Just a few examples (you can check the numbers here:  https://store-k9nvqai7wz.mybigcommerce.com/content/PDFs/Head_MPFs/MPF_MIZUNO.pdf)

 

The MP 64s you mention as your standard for what you want from a Mizuno CB have almost the exact same specs as the blade MP 4 in terms of C dimension, MOI, and actual vertical COG, so it is safe to say that the 64 isn't really a forgiving CB. 

 

The new Pro S3 has a tiny bit higher MOI than the 64 and a longer C dimension, but the AVCOG is also a bit higher.  If you miss off the toe, the Pro S3 should play more forgiving than the 64, but the higher vertical COG might not work well for some players.

 

For the recent JPX Tours, the 921 was not "bladier" than the 919... the 921 has a longer C dim, higher MOI, and a tiny bit higher vertical COG (0.018 higher to be exact).  Unless you're sensitive that tiny COG difference, the 921 Tour should play a little more forgiving.  The 923 Tour is kind of a mixture of the two irons, but again it is not definitively less forgiving than the 919.

 

Regarding the blades, the MP 241s are the least forgiving iron on the Mizuno chart in terms of MOI, but it is unclear if that is a trend or a one off.  As for the MP 5s, those aren't particularly forgiving on paper... they are slightly less forgiving than, but comparable to, sets like the MP 4s and MP 20s.  I'll agree that they felt good and didn't seem particularly punishing on mishits, but having switched from the MP 5s to 923 Tours, I can tell that the 923 tours are more forgiving on toe hits than the 5s.  

 

For what it is worth, the MP 67 has the highest MOI of any Mizuno blade in the chart (it is the only one above 12).  The next up is @NRJyzr's MP 11 followed by the MP 32, both close to 11.8.

[Lord Viking]

To the Mizuno aficionados

How do the Mizuno T zoid pros compare to the blades in terms of that classic feel and forgiveness

[BCULAW]

I am currently playing a set of Pro 221 irons (3-p). Play well with them. Like them well enough. I’m just not sold on the feel of the copper underlay. Almost feels too dense to me. I really love the feel of the older models. My last “favorites” were the MP4 blades, MP32s, and although not a lot of people really liked them, I really liked the MP63s as far as CBs. 

[NRJyzr]

3 minutes ago, BCULAW said:

Like them well enough. I’m just not sold on the feel of the copper underlay.

 

It's largely a myth.  Brother Forged4ever has commented on that a few times, having spoken to engineers at Mizuno.

 

It's mentioned in marketing because people choose to believe it.

 

[grochol17]

1 hour ago, Lord Viking said:

To the Mizuno aficionados

How do the Mizuno T zoid pros compare to the blades in terms of that classic feel and forgiveness

 

I played the T-Zoid Pro irons for about 4 years and switched because I was wearing out the faces from too much time on sandy soil golf courses.  Mine felt quite soft, but I had the sensicore shafts, so I'm not sure how much softness was the clubhead and how much was the shaft.  As for forgiveness, based on the Maltby MOI numbers, the T-Zoid Pro were basically the JPX line before it existed... the T-Zoid MOI is higher than any of the Mizuno Pro irons (including CBs and the players distance irons like the 243/245) and comparable to the current JPX 925 forged.  The vertical COG is pretty low for Mizuno and similar to the 925 high launch, so the T-Zoids were a pretty forgiving iron in a not too large package. 

 

I know everyone has their classic Mizuno irons they wish Mizuno would bring back and my vote is for the T-Zoid.  I don't need a new set of irons, but if they re-released the T-Zoid tomorrow I'd have them on order as soon as I could type in my credit card info.

[Red4282]

3 hours ago, BCULAW said:

I am currently playing a set of Pro 221 irons (3-p). Play well with them. Like them well enough. I’m just not sold on the feel of the copper underlay. Almost feels too dense to me. I really love the feel of the older models. My last “favorites” were the MP4 blades, MP32s, and although not a lot of people really liked them, I really liked the MP63s as far as CBs. 

 

3 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

 

It's largely a myth.  Brother Forged4ever has commented on that a few times, having spoken to engineers at Mizuno.

 

It's mentioned in marketing because people choose to believe it.

 

Agree the copper really doesnt provide anything tangible. IMO the biggest shift from the old to new was the HD. That made them feel a little more dense.

Edited July 29 by Red4282

[Lord Viking]

3 hours ago, grochol17 said:

 

I played the T-Zoid Pro irons for about 4 years and switched because I was wearing out the faces from too much time on sandy soil golf courses.  Mine felt quite soft, but I had the sensicore shafts, so I'm not sure how much softness was the clubhead and how much was the shaft.  As for forgiveness, based on the Maltby MOI numbers, the T-Zoid Pro were basically the JPX line before it existed... the T-Zoid MOI is higher than any of the Mizuno Pro irons (including CBs and the players distance irons like the 243/245) and comparable to the current JPX 925 forged.  The vertical COG is pretty low for Mizuno and similar to the 925 high launch, so the T-Zoids were a pretty forgiving iron in a not too large package. 

 

I know everyone has their classic Mizuno irons they wish Mizuno would bring back and my vote is for the T-Zoid.  I don't need a new set of irons, but if they re-released the T-Zoid tomorrow I'd have them on order as soon as I could type in my credit card info.

Yup, same here 

T-zoid pros with sensicore shafts, I loved those things.

[3_Putt_Par]

Without a doubt, my favorite Mizuno CB model is the MP-55.  So good looking and with forgiveness to go along with that amazing Mizuno feel.  

 

As for MB sets, I would say it's a tie between the nostalgic MP-69 and surprisingly forgiving (for blades) MP-5.

 

Not sure if the lofts will allow a seamless combo, however, I may have to see if I can get a set of P-7i in MP-5 and combo them with 6i - 4i MP-55s.  Now if I can only find a decent set of MP-55s...

[Ben B]

5 hours ago, Lord Viking said:

To the Mizuno aficionados

How do the Mizuno T zoid pros compare to the blades in terms of that classic feel and forgiveness

I played the T-Zoid Pro II irons for nearly 4 years and they had that classic Mizuno forged feel for sure; however, the PW was the ugliest shovel of a wedge I had ever seen. The 2 iron stayed in my bag for a very long time, by far my most favorite club. 

[ldchristopher]

If an updated MP64 came out with a smaller head on the short irons they’d have my money in a heartbeat. No copper underlay, no tungsten. Just a traditional one piece forging. If they wanna mess with the lofts and do the same as the P7CB (23° 4 iron; 41° 9, 46° PW) that’s fine. But don’t go any stronger in the stock lofts. The MP-18 CB were also good. I’m not wild about the look of the 243 or 223. They look like Pings. But the S1 and S3 look good. The S3 has some forgiveness. No more demanding than the old 64. 

[dubbelbogey]

Re: copper underlayment...

Using copper as an intermediate layer is super common in many chrome plating operations. It's done to improve finish and bonding. Car guys often refer to copper-nickel-chrome plating as "show chrome". Allows for smoother, and ultimately, maximally reflective, finishes for those car parts that are meant to be on display. Certainly not done to improve the feel or any other such nonsense. Did you guys feel how buttery smooth the bumper was on that Duesenberg? It's like feeling nothing at all! Copper is magic!

 

My take is that Mizuno engineering and manufacturing decided on using copper for improved chrome plating reasons, then the marketing guys got a hold of this and spun it like they always do. No surprise this was also during the era when various bronze alloys and other copper colored clubs were somewhat popular.

[HTRN-25]

I have a MP20 Mb to MMC in the 5 and 4 combo.  Both feel great and play well. 

 

Not as forgiving as my MP54 set but feel a touch better and look better also. 

[gators78]

In junior golf all the cool kids used MP 33s. They looked amazing and I wasn’t good enough to play them and lugged around Ping i3 O-size. 
 

Fast forward about 15 sets and I can say the MP 20s are the best irons I’ve ever used. 

[Skipperation]

On 7/28/2025 at 8:08 PM, Mp14forlife said:

I've been disappointed with Mizuno and their lineups of late. Except in their distance type players irons, 225 was pretty great..but with their CB/MB's it seems like long gone are the days of a forgiving cb with players lofts or a forgiving-ish blade..

Now it seems like they want to widdle down the cb to an MB and the MB is harder to hit than past MB's from Mizuno. And what is now considered their forgiving cb, it has become a low lofted rocket launcher, the "243."  Even in the jpx line, the 919 tour was fairly forgiving but then it was followed up by a widdled down bladier 921/923 tour.

Wish they would go back to a chrome mp64 type CB for their players cb and maybe a one off mp5 type forgiving MB every couple cycles. 

Am I completely up in the night on this? Or any one else feel this way? 

Interesting point.

 

Can't say I've hit many of the newer Mizuno CB's but I play the MP 20's (which I love) and go PW-6 in blades and then into the HMB 5-3 as the MMCs didn't launch any higher or feel anymore forgiving than the blades in the longer irons. Would like to go CB in the 6 too but HMB sole is too big. Lofts on MMC felt too low and topline just as thin as the blade so didn't boost confidence that I could get it up in the air. Don't think it's just Mizuno that have fallen into this trap either, Titleist CBs are basically blades in size and profile now too.

 

Feel like manufacturers have listened to a few of those that shout the loudest too much so have all gone thin topline/no offset which although might sound great really isn't very good for most. CB's therefore feel like they've been squeezed so much now that if you don't like a pure blade you'll be forced into a hollow iron of some sort with low lofts and quick faces.

 

I think this might be why the recent Srixon CB's have been so popular, slightly larger footprint, thicker/more confident boosting topline and genuine forgiveness, a proper forged cavity back.

 

I also like the idea/way they used to do the slightly more forgiving, larger blade every now and then like you point out. Haven't hit the MP5 to my fault but reckon the Titleist 695MB (not dissimilar in size) is the most forgiving blade I've ever hit, new Titleist blades look like scalpels in comparison. Quite alot of older blades were actually quite big in reality compared to blades now. As long ago as TP19 even spring to mind. Recent Mizuno blades although all in their own right look great imo seem very very similar. New S1 might offer slightly different CG with high muscle ala MP5 (but smaller) but other than the finish, the profile at address looks basically the same again.....though they do look very nice.

Edited July 30 by Skipperation

[Mp14forlife]

54 minutes ago, Skipperation said:

Interesting point.

 

Can't say I've hit many of the newer Mizuno CB's but I play the MP 20's (which I love) and go PW-6 in blades and then into the HMB 5-3 as the MMCs didn't launch any higher or feel anymore forgiving than the blades in the longer irons. Would like to go CB in the 6 too but HMB sole is too big. Lofts on MMC felt too low and topline just as thin as the blade so didn't boost confidence that I could get it up in the air. Don't think it's just Mizuno that have fallen into this trap either, Titleist CBs are basically blades in size and profile now too.

 

Feel like manufacturers have listened to a few of those that shout the loudest too much so have all gone thin topline/no offset which although might sound great really isn't very good for most. CB's therefore feel like they've been squeezed so much now that if you don't like a pure blade you'll be forced into a hollow iron of some sort with low lofts and quick faces.

 

I think this might be why the recent Srixon CB's have been so popular, slightly larger footprint, thicker/more confident boosting topline and genuine forgiveness, a proper forged cavity back.

 

I also like the idea/way they used to do the slightly more forgiving, larger blade every now and then like you point out. Haven't hit the MP5 to my fault but reckon the Titleist 695MB (not dissimilar in size) is the most forgiving blade I've ever hit, new Titleist blades look like scalpels in comparison. Quite alot of older blades were actually quite big in reality compared to blades now. As long ago as TP19 even spring to mind. Recent Mizuno blades although all in their own right look great imo seem very very similar. New S3 might offer slightly different CG with high muscle ala MP5 (but smaller) but other than the finish, the profile at address looks basically the same again.....though they do look very nice.

Mp20 MB's were good, I preferred them over the mp18, 221 and 241 for sure. 

[2Down]

mp 68, mp 5 and now pro S-3.  Not a long history and not concurrent, there is a few years between takes but the S-3, to me, seem the most forgiving of those.  

 

I'm playing well again and I give some credit to my S-3s.