We are in process of looking for a set of good irons (hopefully under $500) for my 16 yr old son. He's been taking lessons thru GolfTec, and has an awesome instructor. The man works very well with kids.

Both of us have been playing the game off and on for a couple of years, and lately have been playing quite a bit. At least once a week the last few months.

His dream irons are Mizuno blades like MP32's or 60's. While he is getting better, he is not ready for them quite yet. He's got a long way to go. So we are looking at the MX-17's. We checked out the MX-23's, but we are on a tight budget, and $500 is all I can handle right now.

The kid has been playing with a set of old Nickent's with graphite shafts. Got them cheap as demo's about 5 yrs ago. His instructor told us he is way beyond this club (the graphite shafts are worn out) and would do much better with a steel with a stiff shaft.

We are also looking at component clubs like the Snake Eyes Pythons ( http://www.golfsmith.com/products/SE2801 ) or Pythons plus ( http://www.golfsmith.com/products/SE2710 ) irons.

What do you all think? Are the MX-17's that good or just another decent cast iron iron?