Kevin,

It is all relevent to level of play. For a scrath handicap he may hit his 5 iron 225 yards and be off center 5%, where as a 10 handicap may only hit it  175 yards and be off 5% the margin of error is the same for both. The 5 % miss  for the scratch golfer is much smaller than the 5% for the 10 handicapper when dealing with metric's of measure.

The 5 % miss for the pro on a MB iron may be a slight occilation but to the 10 make snap a crown.

This goes for face angle and approach at moment of strike as well.

This is the reason so many pros play with the AP2's, because at that level the slight miss at moment of contact is so much more exaggerated by the distance they hit.  but it is all relative

I have friends, who cannot break an egg, and insist on MB forged irons. Nor can I break a egg but I play the AP2's and should be playing the AP1's,  but in my mind I am a great golfer.

You make an excellent point.  If you go to players on the Titleist website, the first 2 rows have about 7 bags (the rest are balls only).  There was 1 MB, 1 CB, 1  AP1/AP2,, 1 AP2/MB (prototypes), and the rest were all AP2.  Clearly the pros aren't all CB or MB.  Or, for that matter, all 712.  Several were 710.  So, whatever suits you is best.  Be it all AP2 or a combination of AP2 and CB/MB.  At least with Titleist, thre is no limit to the possible combinations.

if you are striking the ball well, the MB's have great feel and you really know where you stand with these clubs.....I currently play the CBs and to me, they are closer to the AP2's in terms of forgiveness as compared to the MBs.. The CB's are unbelievable, even on mishits, where the MBs are not. I have never played the Ap2, but did hit them during a fitting session....they were fine, but to me launched too high and my ball speed was not optimal.....

The MBs I had were fine, but you have to be on your game and cannot miss the pea sized sweet spot.......the CB's are very workable and to me are very forgiving and do not get enough credit for how forgiving they really are. I would put the CBs up against any club out there. Its the best ive ever played

Hey Kevin,

I have played MBs for years now and do not plan on playing anything different for a long time.  I assume that your main question would be: If MBs are harder to hit, why play them?  From my experience, I think preference is the main factor.  I believe as long as you are a decent player/ball striker you would have no problem playing blades.  The reason I prefer them is that feel and feedback you get from a blade is unlike any other type of iron.  A flushed strike feels like absolute butter and I can control the spin out of any lie. I also think each hit (in the middle of the face of course) of a blade is absolutely consistent, and non comparable.  Lastly, I like the smaller head and thinner sole, I feel that it helps out of deep thick rough.  I'm currently at 2 hdcp, and have played the 690MBs for about 10 years when I was probably more like a 10.  I think these irons may have actually helped me become a better ball striker over the years.  But like I said, its all preference.  All of the current Titleist irons are fantastic and you can't go wrong with any of them.

Hey Kevin,

So everything below is just my personal opinion, but I currently have the a blended (4-6) CB12's and (7-PW) MB12's after playing the 2008 version of the AP2's for a little while. I know they are not like the new style which are more of a blade look but I have hit them and can tell the difference, at least for my game. I also put in the 7.0 PXi Project X shaft in my irons because I am primarily a low ball hitter and it helps when I need to hit a higher shot but it's easy to control the kick for lower shots and it's pretty light and has great shock absorption.

I have loved blades since my sophomore year of high school, like 15 years ago. Wow, just realized that. Anyways, I gamed the miz MP-14's up until 3 years ago when someone decided they would enjoy my clubs more than me and helped themselves why they were in my garage. That was awesome. I bounced back and forth until I landed on the AP2's, they were great because I wasn't playing that much so I wanted something that was forged but had a good cavity back to help with mishits. I like to work the ball a lot with my irons and I was able to do it a little with the AP2's but as my game came back, I started hitting those irons higher and higher. The cavity weighting on the bottom really helps the ball get up in the air and coming from a 15-20 year old set or however the MP-14's were, I basically gained about 15 yards per iron so that took a little while to get used to.

I demo'd a set of the 712 AP2's because the 2008 version started looking a little too clunky to me and the 712 AP'2 looked awesome and I basically hit it the same as the 2008. Long, high and for the most part pretty straight. I was able to work the ball but really couldn't change the flights on it like I could with a blade.

I decided on a blended set of the CB's and the MB's and I absolutely love them. The CB's are really forgiving for being a pretty basic cavity back but have the look of a blade. The MB's can bit you if it's cold or your game is a little off but that's why I only have it in the 7-P so they aren't really the tougher clubs to hit.

I am interested in seeing how they have improved the AP2's over last year because honestly, they were fantastic, being a fan of blades I might be a little biased towards the set I have now but the blades and the cb's are a lot easier to flight the ball for different trajectories if I wanted, the AP2's... not as much.

I did lose about 8-10 yards from the AP2's to the MB's, the CB's are about the same, but I think that's because the MB's spin so much more than the AP2's do. For me it's easier to hit a low shot that will bite with these clubs or a high shot that can check and come back a bit with the 8-P than I could ever do with the AP2's.

I guess really it's what fits your game, because what's good for me might not be for you but I just wanted to share my experience with the sets.

In the end, they are all fantastic irons and if you match those heads with a good shaft, I don't think you can go wrong. It's kind of like saying, should I buy the Ferrari or the Lamborghini.... who cares they are both fantastic.

for me playing MB's is just to keep trajectory down there nowhere near as unforgiving as most people think.  Not like the old blades of the past at all cant wait for the new model 

The biggest difference is the workability of the ball. the MB allows the more skilled player to vary the trajectory and shape of the shot a bit more then the AP2. The AP2 is designed to "help" the player. It has a bit more offset and thus makes it a bit easier to hit the ball higher and straighter. The MB has virtually no offset. This means the ball must be struck that much better to get the ball on the proper trajectory. It is also a lot easier to hit the knock-down shot as you do not have to work against the offset of the club.

MBs are great, I play them in the 7, 8, 9 and PW. I love the workability of the ball. The downside is if my swing is a bit off, I lose distance and accuracy. As a compromise, I use the CB (a very good compromise between the AP2 and the MB) in the 4, 5 and 6 irons.

All of this info has been very helpful. Sounds to me like switching irons (as hard as it might be to letgo) may actually benefit my game a lot. I had problems early in the golf season with my AP2s ballooning out despite my ball striking being a strong point so the offset causing that makes sense. I also changed shafts from KBS tour x stiff to c tapers which brought my flight down. I really don't have a problem controlling trajectory or moving the ball both directions. I do think I could pick up some distance if I brought the flight down some more but it's nice being able to stop a 6 iron on a dime on hard greens. I will have to strongly consider making the switch to a CB, MB, or Combo set next spring after and outdoor fitting of course. Appreciate the replies.