"Adams Golf" misprint on the hosel

[B-Con]

I sniped a set of Adams Golf a4r irons (5i - GW, 4H) off eBay recently. Two major eBay golf retailers Rock Bottom Golf and GolfETail were both unloading a lot of sets on there and some of them went for very good deals. Dicks has them discounted down to $200 but on eBay the winning bid averaged about $150-ish. I was patient and got mine for $133 shipped. But anyway... The clubs arrived and when I inspected them, I noticed something peculiar about the 4-hybird: The "Adams Golf" logo on the hosel was missing the "f". It wasn't faded, or not painted in, just completely missing. Here are a couple pictures: [URL=http://i.imgur.com/0oqnc.jpg][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/0oqncl.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://i.imgur.com/3V8s4.jpg][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/3V8s4l.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The clubs were in the original Adams Golf box and in otherwise perfect condition. But the 4-hybrid was missing the "f". This struck me as very weird, because things things should just be getting molded the same way every time, I don't know how it would be possible for the letter shape to not even be molded into the hosel. I contacted GolfETail (and sent pictures) and they said that was the strangest thing they'd seen in a long time. They said they sold me the box as it came to them straight from the Adams location in Plano, TX (which, ironically, is about 25 minutes from where I live.) They contacted Adams and said that Adams would offer me a free replacement of the newer but comparable A7OS 4h. (FWIW: My contact at GolfETail was very helpful.) I'm fairly certain this club isn't a fake -- I'm pretty sure it's just a 1 in 10,000 misprint. (The seller is legit, the packaging looked just like it came straight from Adams, and I compared the hybrid and irons to a set on display in DSG -- they were as identical as the eye could tell.) So here's my question: 1) Have you ever seen (a legit) misprint like this before? 2) Any thoughts on whether I should keep the original club for collector's fun, or trade it in?

[mvmac]

I've never seen anything like that.  Very weird, but that definitely looks like Adams script.  I'd keep it, not going to get much for it for trade in anyway

[B-Con]

I've never seen anything like that.  Very weird, but that definitely looks like Adams script.  I'd keep it, not going to get much for it for trade in anyway

To clarify: Adams would [i]replace[/i] the club with a newer one. That's what I meant by "trade in".

[tristanhilton85]

I've actually seen this before with Adams clubs... In GolfSmith they had a box set of Tom Watson Classic wedges (52, 56, and 60) and on the back of the wedge the word "CLASSIC" is stamped but on one of them, the last "C" was completely missing.

[bradsul]

I've seen it as well, we bought a complete set of Adams Golf ladies clubs for my mother for Christmas last year, one of the irons had the F missing.  There was no question it was a legitimate set as we bought it off the rack from Golf Town.

[MiniBlueDragon]

I've seen this on Adam clubs too.






(intentional)

[B-Con]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Interesting that so many others have seen this happen. Well, it's not unique, so not very interesting as a collector's item or whatnot. I was offered a free upgrade, so I'll probably take it.

[LBlack14]

Adams quality control and customer service is lacking. One of the easily corrected things that they seem to ignore. Not to mention un-educated employees. You're gonna like those irons I think. I own 2 sets after trying literally hundreds over the past few years. These have ended my search.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by LBlack14

I own 2 sets after trying literally hundreds over the past few years. These have ended my search.

Literally hundreds?
Over 200 sets??????

[jamo]

There is a chain of warehouse-type stores in New England called Building 19, and a lot of the stuff they buy is from retailers an manufacturers that have gone out of business. Every spring their stores have a huge golf sale, and it's mostly 5-year-old Adams, and Tiger Shark (brands like that), with a few Clevelands, Taylor Mades, and Nikes. I've see a lot of misspelling and outright fakes (not a lot of fakes, but I've seen a few, and what exactly do you expect paying $25 for what is supposed to be a Callaway driver?) on the stuff at those stores. The store does have some hidden gems though. You can buy pretty darn nice golf bags there for next to nothing, and recycled balls are a steal, as long as you don't plan on using them in the U.S. Open.

[boogielicious]

Jamo,

You are not old enough to remember the first Building 19 at the Weymouth shipyard.  Most of the stuff there smelled like smoke because they were really "Fire Sale" items!  It was punishment for us to have to go there with my Mom, but we were pretty poor back then.  Fun memories!!

It is surprising to me that a reputable company like Adams would let mistakes like that go.  I work for a Global personal care company.  A mistake like that would be a recall.

[B-Con]

Adams quality control and customer service is lacking. One of the easily corrected things that they seem to ignore. Not to mention un-educated employees. You're gonna like those irons I think. I own 2 sets after trying literally hundreds over the past few years. These have ended my search.

Good to know what it's worth expecting from their quality control. Yeah, I've heard good things about them. Even if I don't stick with them permanently it'll give me further insight into what I do/don't like in irons. For $115 + shipping they'll be worth it. :-)

[tim31x]

I had won a few dozen Titleist DT solo's for winning a long drive a scramble a while back. The words on the box and each individual sleeve stated something to the effect of "Titleist GO_ F's finest two piece GO_F ball". I thought it was kind of funny that Titleist would tell me to "GO F" lol, anyway I called their consumer hotline and they ended up sending me a free dozen pro v1's for informing them of the mistake. Not a bad deal!

[LBlack14]

Literally hundreds?
Over 200 sets??????

Each set had anywhere from 7-9 sometimes 10 irons so I'd say that's pretty accurate, probably more. :-P

[B-Con]

My replacement club arrived yesterday. Adams sent me an A12OS (instead of the A7OS) -- a nice upgrade to be sure! It looks like the A12OS 4-hybrid is retailing for about $170 in stores, which would mean that my original $133 (including shipping) purchase plus the re-gripping on all of the clubs could still be worth less than this replacement would be. I could probably sell it for more than the original set was. :-P I'd love to keep it, but I don't [i]need[/i] it and the money could go to other more important things. (I'd originally planned to sell the hybrid from the set anyway). Oh well, there are worse things than making a profit off of a set of irons you get to keep. :-D

[Laws of Woo]

That sure is interesting. I have owned several Adams iron sets and woods over the years, and never recalled seeing misprints like that. I've never had a problem with their customer service, and it seems like you haven't either. Nice of them to upgrade the hybrid for a blemished club.