So the oldest part of my set are my irons - a set of TM R7s I bought new almost 20 years ago. I've been checking out used clubs, hoping to find irons in the m4 - sim2 range for around $400. I'm a Taylormade guy and I'm cheap
Anyways, I golfed with a guy last year who had a set of p790s and couldn't stop raving about them. Then my brother-in-law hit some p790s last month and also highly endorsed them. Unfortunately, they go for around $1000 or more used, so I never considered them...
...until I saw a post from a guy who bought knockoff (not counterfeit) p790s off of Temu. He referenced this video as to why he got them:
I found another youtube video with a couple of (I think) ex-college golfers testing them out against real p790s.
Bottom line, they seem to compare really well with the originals. Like so close that they were almost indistinguishable, and likely using very similar manufacturing processes as the original.
My final step was to go to GolfTown and try out the real p790s to see if I liked them. They are more blade than cavity-back irons that I'm used to, so I wanted to see how they'd feel. Honestly, they were incredible - really forgiving, while also being straighter and longer than my r7s. Toe and heel shots still felt good, and travelled about as far as flushing my old club. Pretty incredible.
Anyways, the knockoffs aren't on Temu anymore, but I found them on aliexpress.
I spent a bunch of time wondering if I should get the 4th gen knockoffs (that look like the 2023 p790s) but those all seemed to be more counterfeits than knockoffs. When I messaged the seller for actual picks, they all showed the actual TM logo on them.
In the end, I went for the same set as in the second video above. They are made by Calong, which seems to be a legit club manufacturer. And having them play tested as in the youtube video gives me more confidence in them. And right now, they are on sale for $285 with free shipping. At that price, it seemed well worth the risk.
I expect they will arrive in a month or so, and will test them out at an indoor simulator. Here's hoping!