23 replies to this topic

[craniac24]

...The Holy Grail.  The mountaintop of the Himalays.  The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  This is what has made me search on eBay every day, several times a day for the past year.  Finally it's been found.  In brand new, original, never hit condition.  Anyone care to guess what it is?

 grail.jpg   73.69K   8 downloads

Edited by craniac24, 15 February 2013 - 09:10 PM.

[seasterl]

Oooh, that's nice.  I'm glad you found a new version of what you were looking for.

[OPIE98LMB]

LOL.....A Ben Hogan 2 or 3 iron?

[craniac24]

OPIE98LMB, on 15 February 2013 - 09:30 PM, said:

LOL.....A Ben Hogan 2 or 3 iron?

Haha.  That's actually a 6 iron, but to be clear...it's part of a whole set.  

[Guia]

Its the poker from my fireplace?

[Buzzkill]

Apex Redline

Edited by Buzzkill, 15 February 2013 - 09:59 PM.

[Nspiel58]

73 Apex Anniversary edition?

Attached Files

•  73Apex.jpg   117.32K   1 downloads

Edited by Nspiel58, 15 February 2013 - 10:10 PM.

[Guia]

They are very pretty, what kind of deal did you get?

[guisician]

That is one shiny hosel (no double-entendre intended).

Apex PCs?

BH Grinds?

[freddiec]

That iron looks to be a Apex "red line" model from 88. The toe tells me that.  Congrats!

[teevons]

For me the Holy Grail of unhit Hogan irons   would be Precision's, ??

[craniac24]

teevons, on 16 February 2013 - 12:11 PM, said:

For me the Holy Grail of unhit Hogan irons   would be Precision's, ??

That certainly would be quite an impressive find.  That said, for me it was the '88 Redlines.  I've seen them in near mint condition and I've also seen them rechromed.  I even talked to someone on here that had an unhit set but they were reshafted and therefore didn't have the hosel pins.  Being that I'm obsessed with all things new and original, I just had to wait and see if I could find an unhit, original set.

The funny thing is that I ALMOST missed out on these.  A couple weeks ago I saw on eBay the listing title, "Rare New Ben Hogan 'Redline' Iron Set".  My heart started to pound.  My hands became sweaty.  I clicked on the listing and....saw a picture of the 1999 Apex.  WTF?  I was so disappointed that I even fired off a semi-angry note to the seller telling him basically that he might want to edit his ad because what he had were not the Redlines.

10 minutes later I got an apologetic reply from the seller.  Apparently he had just sold a set of the 1999s, and he accidentally used those pictures when he put up the listing for the Redlines.  He said that the correct pictures were up, and thanked me for pointing out his mistake.  As the hands became sweaty again, I rushed back to the listing.  Sure enough, there they were in all their glory.  He had a Buy It Now price that, in my mind, was incredibly reasonable...especially considering that I've never seen a set in unhit, original condition.  I took a moment to review the pics carefully to see if there was anything out of order.  There wasn't.  They were perfect.  I couldn't hit that Buy it Now button any faster, or with more enthusiasm.

Anyway, they came just the other day.  Here they are in their new home.  They'll be played with but only sparingly.  That first ball is going to be awful tough to hit!  

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 redline3.jpg   86.46K   2 downloads
 redline2.jpg   90.57K   0 downloads
 redline4.jpg   91.25K   2 downloads
 redline5.jpg   87.9K   1 downloads

Edited by craniac24, 16 February 2013 - 02:57 PM.

[freddiec]

Wow ! Those are really sweet looking. The redlines were a big hit when they came out.  I'm sure you couldn't hit the buy it now button fast enough!

[Nspiel58]

Great find!  I have a set of the Hogan 50th Anniversary which I purchased about 6 years ago.  I've hit the 6 iron a little at home but have not had the set on the course.  They're just too nice to mark up at this point.

['53 Precision]

Glad you found them, I doubted you would find a set better than mine but you persevered and were successful! Great find...enjoy!

[guisician]

craniac24,

Great find & (well guessed freddiec & buzzkill)! Really love those original grips as well, thanks for the pic.

Of course, as you've pointed out, finding your holy grail NIB does burden you with the "to hit or not to hit" dilemma...

Edited by guisician, 17 February 2013 - 10:14 AM.

[russad]

Enjoy!

[freddiec]

craniac, are you planning building a late 80s bag and adding persimmon, or where you just after the irons?

[craniac24]

freddiec, on 17 February 2013 - 09:40 AM, said:

craniac, are you planning building a late 80s bag and adding persimmon, or where you just after the irons?

Thanks everyone!  Last year I did pick up a couple sets of Persimmon woods with the intention of playing a couple rounds with them, but I just couldn't bring myself to go 100% retro.  At this point I just like having a few sets of classic irons that I can bag every once in awhile.

[OldTom]

Well done Cranny. If I were you I would have a 2nd set of redlines for "personal use only"  and keep the shiny ones shiny.

[bullrambler]

When Hogans were King...! "And to many they still are", I found the #4 shaft to be a tad soft for my swing speed at the time. However they might work out fine for me now. And guys that want to try a set of Forged Irons would be starting at the right place if they picked up a set of hogans with their stock factory shafts in them. If memory serves me correct, then I recall reading that Ben Hogan played a role in determining the flex of the irons. More or less a mid bend point shaft, that's lighter then a TT DG. Recently, I was perusing a shop that features older clubs, I seen a set that had had a good deal of play on them, bag clatter, No brown faces tho, and almost picked them up. I still have four Hogan forged wedges and may look for a set to build around them,

[freddiec]

Craniac, which persimmon woods did you pick up?  If it were me, I think I couldn't help myself and take those hogans out for atleast 9 on a nice condition day with some older retro balls like some t** DTs or some good condition balatas and let them sing atleast once.

[craniac24]

freddiec, on 21 February 2013 - 11:27 AM, said:

Craniac, which persimmon woods did you pick up?  If it were me, I think I couldn't help myself and take those hogans out for atleast 9 on a nice condition day with some older retro balls like some t** DTs or some good condition balatas and let them sing atleast once.

I picked up 2 sets of Macgregors (945t and MT) and a set of Hogan 1953 commemoratives.  The Hogan Driver looked like it had been hit once or twice, but the others were original and unhit.

You have the right idea...and that was my thought as well.  I'm a bit of a handicap snob though...spent all last year trying hard to get my index down as low as possible.  For some reason I couldn't bring myself to "sacrifice" a round by using persimmon.  And interestingly, I don't feel like I'm giving up anything using the classic blades.  In fact, I've shot some pretty good scores using them.  Maybe if we get a warm day before the official season starts I'll give the persimmons a go.

[dennis4190]

Nice pick up....I've got a set of Redlines that I use regularly and still love that flushed shot feeling!