Fake MP18 SC?

Trap Junior

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ireland
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mp 57
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taylormade r9 tp superdeep
#1
I bought a 2nd hand set on ebay and I noticed 3 out of the 7 clubs have different serial number to the others.

The 4, 7 and PW have a serial number 120617S and the others habe a serial number 140819C. This is weird as S stands for stock and C stands for custom order.

I googled pics of genuine MP18 SC and came across a pic of a club with the exact same serial number on some golf review website. It too had 120617C. Is that unusual or do all stock clubheads come with this exact number?

Here are some photos of the clubs I bought.


Are these fake or not?
 

Trap Junior

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taylormade r9 tp superdeep
#2
Sorry I meant the pic I saw on a golf review website had the serial number 120617S
 

PaulBoy

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Mizuno Pro 223 (4-AW) Modus3 120s
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#3
The number etched on Custom orders (C) is the date they were built & therefore any clubs built on that day will all have the same etched number - I presume that this will be the same situation with the Stock (S) etched numbers, so there will not be different number on each set? - If I'm talking bollards, I'm sure someone will advise?
Paul
 

seanmor

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ST-X 230 12.0 deg N.S.Pro 950 GH Neo R flex shaft
#4
I bought a 2nd hand set on ebay and I noticed 3 out of the 7 clubs have different serial number to the others.

The 4, 7 and PW have a serial number 120617S and the others habe a serial number 140819C. This is weird as S stands for stock and C stands for custom order.

I googled pics of genuine MP18 SC and came across a pic of a club with the exact same serial number on some golf review website. It too had 120617C. Is that unusual or do all stock clubheads come with this exact number?

Here are some photos of the clubs I bought.


Are these fake or not?
I bought a 2nd hand set on ebay and I noticed 3 out of the 7 clubs have different serial number to the others.

The 4, 7 and PW have a serial number 120617S and the others habe a serial number 140819C. This is weird as S stands for stock and C stands for custom order.

I googled pics of genuine MP18 SC and came across a pic of a club with the exact same serial number on some golf review website. It too had 120617C. Is that unusual or do all stock clubheads come with this exact number?

Here are some photos of the clubs I bought.


Are these fake or not?
Hi Trap Junior,

Don't see any pics so so cant comment on if they look real or fake..?

In answer to your other concerns first the number on your irons are not serial numbers but the dates that the clubs were assembled/built at the Cumbernauld facility in Scotland,

The 4-PW with the number 120617s says they were built on the 12th June 2017 and the S says they are to standard spec's.

The other clubs with the number 140819C says they were built on 14th August 2019 and the C says they have been Custom built to what ever the original customers wanted the specifications to be IE., loft, lie length shafts & grips etc.

the pics of the genuine MP18s that you Googled just happen to have been built on the same day as your irons and IMO just purely coincidental,

It could be that the original owner of the irons made up the set from a mixture of STD and Custom made irons but that's pure speculation on my part..!

Hope this helps,

John
 

Trap Junior

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taylormade r9 tp superdeep
#5
Hi John. I posted from my phone and attached photos but they didn't post up for some reason. It says the file is too large. Its a jpg file 2.54MB

They all have the same shafts and grips. However the the 4,7,PW have the KBS shaft logo facing up. The rest have them facing down . I found that odd. Do Mizuno ever put their standard spec clubs logo up? (i.e you can see the logo when you take your address position)
 

seanmor

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Sep 6, 2012
Location
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MIZUNO JPX921HM irons 5-PW
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ST-X 230 12.0 deg N.S.Pro 950 GH Neo R flex shaft
#10
Hi Trap Junior,

I'm on my 7th set of Mizuno irons all but one of my sets were custom built to my specs by Mizuno Cumbernauld the other set I bought as a used set from a well known used golf club trader and are also to my specs, all of the 7 sets had their shaft labels fixed on the back side of the irons so that you don't see them at the address position when you are playing,

So to answer your question about the shaft labels it's my experience that Mizuno fix the shaft labels on the back side of the shafts and all facing the same way up,

As far as I can tell looking at the pics of your irons IMHO they look genuine to me and I might add they are a nice looking set of irons and also look to be in excellent condition,

Again and this is only speculation on my part It might well be that they have been re-shafted by the previous owner at some time not necessarily by Mizuno but may be by a local club Pro and that might well explain the irregularity in the positions of the shaft labels..?, also you don't have pics of the grips that are on the irons what make and type are they as Mizuno only offer a certain range of grips and they might be non standard to them..?

Can I ask have you played with them yet..? what about the performance and feel of them is there anything about how they felt and performed that made you bring in to question their originality..

Cheers

John.
 

PaulBoy

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Titleist TSi2 Graphite Design Tour AD XC-50s
#11
I am in agreement with John that the clubs you have shown pics of do appear to be genuine Mizuno ones - I only have trouble with the three irons that have been added to the set & have the Custom etching? - The 4 iron could have been added to an original set that only went up to 5 iron? - PW does tend to get chipped more than a long iron, but it is odd that the 7 iron has been replaced, but again, it may have been damaged & the owner of the original set just wanted to replace the clubs that were damaged? - It really is impossible to know without speaking to the original owner, but that isn't an option obviously
Are you able to get the lofts / lies / swing weights checked? - A proper club fitter would be able to do this in less than an hour? - Knowing how they are set up may allay some of the worry that they are not genuine, as fakes tend to have these settings all over the place?
At the end of the day, I would just get them into play & if they work as you expect, enjoy them - If they don't for some reason, sell them on & get something else?
Good luck
Paul
 

Trap Junior

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#12
Unfortunately due to Coronavirus I probably wont get to play with them for a while as courses are only open to people within 5km here. I did hit about 5 balls into a net of the 4 and 7 iron and they feel fine. They do certainly look genuine. If they are fake they are indistinguishable. I went on AliExpress to see the copies and they make fake MP18 muscle back and JPX irons as as well as fake shafts and everything. The copies are getting harder to spot.

When I first saw them I thought they were genuine but the different serial numbers and shaft label position was very odd. The only thing I can think of is that the golf shop had two sets and some of them got mixed up with the other. The shaft label up is a mystery too. Unless a guy ordered them that way??
 

seanmor

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Location
Kilmarnock, Scotland.
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MIZUNO JPX921HM irons 5-PW
Driver
ST-X 230 12.0 deg N.S.Pro 950 GH Neo R flex shaft
#14
Hi Trap Junior,

The grips you have are the same ones that I have on my Mizuno irons and are the ones that you can have fitted as STD by Mizuno so no problem there.

You say you bought them of E-Bay did you buy them recently..? if you did you will still have all the details of your purchase on your E-bay account and also the sellers details of the sale, and if you do why not contact him through E-Bay and just ask him about the set make up as he may well be able to offer you a reasonable explanation and clear up any doubts you have about the irons,

Cheers

John
 

Trap Junior

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#15
Hi SeanMor,
Yes I bought them on Ebay this week. I did message the seller about the irons with the different serial numbers. He said he never noticed himself and that he bought them from a golf outlet store. I did ask him where he bought them but he just replied that he would give me a refund if I sent them back.
 
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seanmor

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MIZUNO JPX921HM irons 5-PW
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ST-X 230 12.0 deg N.S.Pro 950 GH Neo R flex shaft
#16
Hi SeanMor,
Yes I bought them on Ebay this week. I did message the seller about the irons with the different serial numbers. He said he never noticed himself and that he bought them from a golf outlet store. I did ask him where he bought them but he just replied that he would give me a refund if I sent them back.
Hi SeanMor,
Yes I bought them on Ebay this week. I did message the seller about the irons with the different serial numbers. He said he never noticed himself and that he bought them from a golf outlet store. I did ask him where he bought them but he just replied that he would give me a refund if I sent them back.
Hi Trap-Junior,

Well that may well be true that he bought them from a golf outlet and that he didn't notice that the numbers on the irons were different but if I'm honest that would ring alarm bells with me,

I cant see why he just couldn't tell you where he got them from and to say he never noticed that the numbers were not the same well I would have thought that most people would have checked them, may be its just me but I do find that strange..!

Looks like you have a decision to make..! keep hold of the irons or send them back for a refund..?

Cheers

John.
 

Trap Junior

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#17
I contacted the seller again and he said he bought them from an online golf shop on ebay and couldnt bring the seller up when he looked back to when he bought them.
 

LOS

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Dec 3, 2015
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England
#18
I contacted the seller again and he said he bought them from an online golf shop on ebay and couldnt bring the seller up when he looked back to when he bought them.
It is evidently bothering you and will continue to prey on your mind so I suggest you return them for a refund.
I don't know how long Mizuno build their staNdard sets before they release them to their partner golf outlets but those standard build irons were assembled a month before pictures were released by Mizuno on this site and before the "Open" so they could have gone to to a Golf outlet nearly 3 years ago. The custom built irons must have been one of the last sets built by Mizuno as the MP20's were being built around this time. As to shaft labels all my iron sets have the shaft labels down however all my custom built wedges have the labels up. Although Paul said it was unusual for a 7 iron to be replaced it is probably my most used iron so in my case it would not be unusual for a 7 iron to replaced, Paul is a much better player than I am. I am surprised the seller couldn't find out who the seller was as he or ebay (paypal) must have a record of who his money was paid to, I am probably old fashioned but I have financial package to record all my transactions.
 
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DCB

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#19
Going purely by the photos, these do look to be 'real' mizuho clubs. Good clean etching of the serial number and clean lines on the Running Bird and lettering make these appear to be real IMO
 

Trap Junior

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#20
Thanks for everyone's input. I have decided to keep the clubs based on your advice. I was considering sending them back until I went on ebay for a browse earlier and managed to see another almost identical set with the kbs shaft labels up also which reassured me. Swingweighted them and they are all in the D2-D3 range. Thanks again!
 
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