If you are a better player then you will know that a forged blade iron feels great and looks the business. However, even better players like a little bit of forgiveness and that is what the Cobra King Pro irons offer.
It's hard to say whether this is one set or two, as through custom order you can get a full set of forged cavity back CB irons or muscle back MB irons.
However the makeup of the standard 'Flow Set' is for CB irons from 3 to 6-iron and then MB irons from 7-iron to PW and I like this approach.
Each 1025 Carbon Steel head is forged five times to get the grain structure correctly aligned. In order to position the CG as close the centre as possible, Cobra has also added a tungsten toe weight in each head.
At address the MB and CB feature the same thin top line, compact head and straight leading edge that you would associate with this type of iron and the look is as good as anything else on the market.
It is one of the few current blade irons I can think of that comes in this 'Diamonised Black Metal' finish that gives it a dark, dramatic look.
It also comes in a more traditional chrome finish, which would be my personal choice as for some reason it looks a little larger at address in that colour, even though it isn't.
The stock steel shaft also contributes to the look as it is KBS Tour C-Taper 120 with a matte silver finish.
Even though it is about the same weight as most other steel shafts at 120g in a stiff flex, it did feel light to swing and contributed to the excellent overall feel from the King Pro irons.
The sound and feel were solid, sharp, gave lots of feedback and really put a smile on my face. My first impression was that the forgiveness was a little better than you would expect from these size of heads.
However when I had them on a launch monitor, there was a greater degree of variation in distance compared to other better player forged cavity back irons.
This revealed that the King Pro irons are just like any other blade really, in that you have to hit it dead centre to get the best from it. If you don't then you will get these distance inconsistencies, but that is more your fault than the club's.
Whilst the MB is what you would expect from a muscle back, the CB head style is rarer these days. I feel most better players prefer a forged cavity back that looks like a MB with a bit of extra weight around the perimeter, rather than a cavity back with hollow areas.
Not many manufacturers are currently going with what I would call this classic forged cavity back, maybe for good reason as my distance results showed, but I feel that this is the type of iron category one golfers love as it combines looks and proper forged feel with a little bit more margin for error.
Therefore it's great to see Cobra creating a set like the King Pro irons and not only doing that, but making it look and feel so good. Cobra says they are about game enjoyment and the King Pro irons certainly deliver that for better players.
Leading with my heart rather than my head, I could see myself going with these reasonably priced forged irons from 5-iron downwards and putting the extra effort in on my game to try and improve the distance consistency.
And if that didn't work, then I would just take them to the range for fun.