Mizuno is a company famous for crafting some of the finest irons in the world and they’ve recently launched 3 models which are part of the brand spanking new MP-20 series: the MB, MMC and HMB irons respectively. The announcement was made back in July, and today they’re already available for purchasing at selected golf retailers from all across the world.

To begin with, here’s a little history: during its amazing 113 years of existence, Mizuno golf released a number of legendary irons, but arguably, their greatest product so far was the so-called “father of the modern muscle back”, and we’re talking about the amazing Mizuno TN-87, specially designed for the Japanese superstar Tommy Nakajima in the mid late 1980’s. Nick Faldo, a famous forged iron stickler was flabbergasted by the TN-87’s shape, hence his blades were inspired from Mizuno’s products. Slowly but surely, the TN-87 prototype/custom made iron became the now-famous Mizuno MP-29; this baby was so good, that golf legend Tiger Woods used it during the early part of his epic career.

Rumor has it that Titleist, Nike and TaylorMade used the MP-29s as blueprint for their muscle backs ever since, and the rest is pretty much history. Obviously, Mizuno’s engineers and marketing specialists are well aware of the fact that the TN-87 are the stuff legends are made of, and hence the new MP-20 irons were created as an homage of sorts, i.e. they’re classic irons inspired from the granddaddy of muscle backs. It’s well known that muscle backs are pretty difficult to improve and amend, but Mizuno’s R&D team pulled a miracle with the MP-20, as they used the famous thin copper layer which was basically TN-87’s signature design, but not so much with recent models.

The copper coating is an interesting feature in the new MP-20 irons, and Mizuno themselves are having a hard time trying to explain its actual purpose (other than design that is); however, it appears that in blind tests with the company’s staff players, the irons featuring a copper underlay were the best in terms of feel every single time, and that’s amazing. The question is why? Mizuno is still trying to figure out how copper works in terms of improving feel, and they even used Harmonic Impact Technology and various metallurgy analyses to sort things out, but the copper thing is still a mystery.

Bottom line, the new MP-20 are built to be the ultimate irons for the masses, and they’re born from tradition, being aimed at connecting golfers worldwide with what the company describes as the Mizuno feel. The star of the show is the MP-20 blade, the Mizuno flagship, which is described by Mizuno’s Product Manager & Engineer Chris Voshall as the ultimate Tour blade. The MP-20s are an evolution of the MP-18 and follow into the steps of the TN 87 and MP14, being designed for more control and increased forgiveness (keep in mind we’re talking about a blade here) and launch. Here’s Mizuno’s Chris Voshall on the new MP-20:

“We kept asking ourselves why players still talked about the feel of older Mizuno blades. Despite our Grain Flow Forging process tightening each heads structure (which improves feel), and tuning each new design’s vibration pattern through computer aided design, the very best felt something was missing when comparing our latest muscle backs head-to-head with the classics. Most modern muscle backs and limited 'tour edition' irons can be traced back to the great Mizuno blades, though what makes a Mizuno iron truly exceptional is everything you can't see. If you could peel back the chrome plating, you would find a sandwich of nickel and soft copper before the Grain Flow Forged HD chassis. Under a microscope, you can see a perfect flow of grain within the steel from the hosel to toe, compacted tighter in the hitting area. Designers can mimic our lines, but not what's inside.

Let’s begin with the Mizuno MP-20 iron, which can be best described as a pure muscle back, priced at $1,299.95 with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 shafts and Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord grips. The MP-20 iron is built using forged 1025E mild carbon steel. Obviously, the MP-20 iron is forged from a single chunk of steel, and that’s for achieving a soft feel at impact. The final shape of the iron was developed by Mizuno working closely with staff players such as Keith Mitchell, or Tour pros like Paul Casey, who plays with Mizuno irons. Design wise, the new MP-20 iron was heavily influenced by Mizuno’s past blades, and that’s pretty much to be expected, i.e. these babies are all about reviving the company’s classic and iconic designs. The irons boast an exquisite satin and mirror chrome finish, that works wonders in eliminating glare from the clubhead, and they’re available in 3 iron to PW for right-handers, and 5 iron to PW for left-handers.

The Mizuno MP-20 MMC retail for $1,224.95 with KBS Tour S-Taper shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips and they’re forged from the same 1025E mild carbon steel just like the MP-20 irons. The MMC particle stands for multi-material concept, and due to the 'Elite Players' Cavity' design, the MMC irons are more playable than the rest of the bunch, due to their titanium-made muscle plate and perimeter weighting (tungsten sole weight). Design wise, the MP-20 MMC feature slick and elegant tour preferred profiles and they’re built to be more forgiving and to offer more spin control, hence overall improved performance. It’s interesting to notice that Mizuno used no epoxy, as in zero chemical bond in these babies, despite the multi-material construction (tungsten, steel and titanium); how did they do it? Well, the pieces are held together by mechanical bond, i.e. it’s all based on the shrinkage rates of different materials. Speaking of ultimate engineering, this is it.

Finally, we have the Mizuno MP-20 HMB, which are currently retailing for $1,399.95 with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 120 shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips, and they’re built using forged 4135 Chromoly. The hosel and face of the MP-20 HMB are forged from a single chunk of Chromoly, and if you’re wondering what on Earth is that, well, Chromoly is a steel alloy made from molybdenum and chromium, an ultra-strong variety respectively, which allowed Mizuno to create an incredibly thin face that can flex more efficiently at ball impact. The HMB particle stands for 'Hybrid Muscle Back' and it makes for a hollow headed iron complemented by a beautiful tour style head. Playing the HMB is literally music to anyone’s ears, not to mention the fact that you’ll be hitting it with a blade-like iron which comes with all the performance perks of a cavity back. The HMB irons feature a 12 gram tungsten weight system, which lowers the CoG (center of gravity) and contributes to a higher launch; moreover, the new weight system helps with off-center hits (helps the iron to resist twisting) and improves stability. The face is laser-welded to body (stainless steel baby), in order to keep the topline thin. Just like it’s the case with the MP-20 and MP-20 MMC irons, the HMB has a copper layer beneath the satin finish, for improved feel.

But wait, there’s more: the Mizuno T20 Wedges are also making a comeback, as the Japanese manufacturer is one of the industry leaders when it comes to the overall quality/forging process of their wedges/products. The new T20 wedges feature a classic teardrop-shape design and they use Grain Flow Forged technology, which confers them the ultimate precision required on the battlefield. Mizuno’s PGA Tour Technician Kyle Hammond commented on the T20 wedges:

Although our T-Series wedges haven't been available to the public for over a year, they've become even more popular on tour over that time. The teardrop shape, forged feel and addition of a 'tour only' raw finish brought the wedge to iconic status. The updated T20 has been a long time in coming but with a few extra design tweaks we learned over the last year it will finally bring all that wedge goodness back to the public.

Another new and interesting feature of the T20 wedges is Mizuno’s proprietary technology Hydroflow Micro Grooves; what does it mean, you asked? Well, the grooves are vertically etched onto the face in order to mitigate the issue of releasing moisture and keep spin rates in humid conditions. The heads in the T20 wedges use CNC milled grooves on the face, for improving both predictability and consistency results in the hot-zone, which means that the face on the new wedges is mechanically milled to perfection, i.e. to the highest possible tolerance. The carbon steel head uses boron-infusion technology, which translates into long lasting performance via improved durability; think along the lines “they will last forever”. The new wedges are available starting September 1st and they retail for $150 each, being offered in 2 finishes: blue ion plated and white satin.