Golf Equipment: Mr. Monster's Golf Equipment History Checklist

List of Mr. Monster's inventory of golf items since starting golf back in 2006 that I can remember.

DRIVERS: 9
Cougar Power Cat -10.5 reg. flex
Pinemeadow Tour780-10.5 reg. flex
Top Flite HCT Tour-10.5 reg. flex
TaylorMade R7 Draw with stiff flex Aldila NV shaft
Intech Ripper-10.5 reg. flex
Cleveland HiBore -10.5 reg. flex, gold shaft
Macgregor MacTec NVG2-10.5 reg. flex
Cleveland HiBore XLS-10.5 reg. flex with Graffalow ProLaunch Blue shaft
Nicket 4DX Draw (9.0) with Aldila NV shaft

Hybrids: 8
Cougar Power Cat 3 & 5
Pinemeadow Command #3
Pinemeadow Excel #4
Top Flite HCT Tour 5
TaylorMade Rescue Mid 3 & 4
Nickent Genex 3DX Ironwood 2

Fairway Woods: 5
Cougar Power Cat 3 & 5 wood
Top Flite HCT Tour 3 & 5 wood
Macgregor MacTec NVG2 3 wood

Irons: 3
Cougar Power Cat 5-PW
Top Flite HCT Tour 6-PW
Titleist 775cb 5-SW

Wedges: 11
Cougar Power Cat PW & SW
Top Flite HCT Tour PW & SW
Cleveland 588 Tour Action SW & LW
Titleist 775cb GW & SW
Wilson Harmonized SW
Nickent 3DX SW
Nicklaus Bear Trap SW

Putters: 8
Cougar Power Cat blade
Top Flite HCT Tour blade
Knight EZ Roll ZR10
RAM Laser EV1
Wilson Alignment 3000
TaylorMade Monza Roza
Never Compromise GM2 Exchange 3
Arnold Palmer P-101

Golf Shoes: 4
Dunlop brown/white saddle
Top Flite IN04-57 white sneaker
FootJoy Impulse
Nike Dri-Fit black

Golf Bags used: 7
Cougar Power Cat stand bag
Top Flite HCT Tour stand bag
Taylor Made F1 stand bag
Deluxe Sunday Golf Bag by Wilson
Fila Sunday bag
Spalding leather cart bag
Viper by Hippo Golf stand bag

Toy Review: Astro Boy- The Movie Toy (2009)

Comment: Got these two Astro Boy- The movie toys at the Dollar Store today. They had these two and also Astro Boy dressed in a blue track suit and an armored-police looking guy (never sae the movie).

Quality is bad, so these may be rejects since most of the regular Astro Boy figure had bad paint applications.  Can't tell what figure collection this is from since it's not the 3 3/4" set on the Jazwares site. Picked it up since I needed an Astro Boy figure for the collection, otherwise if it was $2 i would've passed due to the bad QA on these.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Movie Review: Legion (2010)

Comments: Those of you expecting some exciting Angels vs. Angels vs. Demons movie with lots of cool action, this isn't the movie for you.

You get a lone angel (who cuts off his wings at the beginning of the movie anyways) who acts more like The Punisher or 80's cliche action stars with dual-guns bein wielded. Think more of the movies where people are trapped in a building with terrorists/mafia/aliens/zombies trying to get in and instead make them evil angel possed people.

There's one neat battle of a steel-winged angel versus our lead non-winged angel and cheesy wannabe Mary & Joseph, Messiah plot. The big action and scariness you see in the movie trailers are pretty much it. There's a lot of scenes of the characters acting very stupidly and getting themselves killed.

If you've seen the Prophecy direct-to-dvd series from the late 90s and 2000's, this would fit right in it. The two angels pretty much act like any Rambo/Predator hero-types but without the charisma.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Movie Review: Planet Hulk DVD (2010)

Comments: The Planet Hulk movie DVD is a screen adaption of the comic book saga of the same name. I’ve previously read the original Planet Hulk graphic novel so I do remember the elements of the series which could be described as Hulk meets the Gladiator-movie genre. So if armored monsters clashing in an arena is your thing, then this animated movie is for you.

There’s a brief bit in the beginning of the film that explains why the Hulk is being sent to another planet by the big-time heroes of Earth. If you do not know the storyline or keep up with what’s happened in the comic books, then you’ll probably not get why Hulk is skyrocketing out of earth and why he’s all of a sudden able to speak intelligently and not the behemoth of old.

There’s some changes in the storyline to accommodate the running time and character use. Planet Hulk covers roughly the beginning and middle of the Planet Hulk storyline with Hulk landing on an alien planet, fighting in the coliseum, and taking over the planet. The portion of the post-“King Hulk” storyline from the comic series isn’t covered and so if sales are good, there might be a sequel. There are some cameos from the comic series in the background and due to licensing issues probably, the Silver Surfer is replaced with Beta Ray Bill (aka Horse-Alien looking Thor).

The action is well-made and there’s a bit of drama going on. Pretty violent, so watch out for the kiddies. Animation style matches previous Marvel films like the recent Iron Man and Dr. Strange films.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Furnture Review: Hemnes 8-Drawer Dresser by Ikea

Comments: Well it was finally time to ditch some old furniture in the bedroom and what ended up being on the list to buy was a dresser to class up the joint a bit. The strategy so far was to keep the look of the home in the dark wood color so that was the first step in the search. So where’d Mr. Monster end up at? Ikea of course. Found the Hemnes 8-Drawer dresser for $299 with its dark wood and silver knobs that should fit the look perfectly.

Trudging through the store the drawer comes in two long boxes. Assembly for the drawer I highly recommend having a second person with you to help hold up sections of the piece as you bolt on the parts. Now putting together furniture is not Mr. Monster’s cup of tea, so putting this bad boy up took about three hours with two items installed incorrectly and one item missing from the box.

First, the instructions called for the base (dark brown front) that was instead installed in the back of the body so I had to spray paint that piece to match since by the time we saw the piece was backwards, all the bolts were in place an could not be pulled out. Second, there was four bolts that were a bit different from the rest, we missed it and ended up digging into the middle center of the wood since the normal bolts were too long, that was our bad. Out of all the parts, there was one screw that was missing from the packaging (we looked), so ended up going to Home Depot (Lowe’s cost $2 more and we just needed one), to get the missing bolt which had to be purchased in a four-pack.

All in all it’s a nice piece. Would have been nicer without the mistakes and missing piece. Not bad for $300.


Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Golf Equipment Review: Arnold Palmer P-101 Blade Putter

After getting into golf there are things you start to notice that differs it from other games, mostly how equipment changes on an almost monthly basis and trying to not get addicted and spending money out the wazoo. I’ve done counts before and I was really into buying new clubs once in a while. I t wasn’t uncommon to get a new driver every few months or try out new putters or even get multiple golf bags. After moving and consolidating all my gadgets, I decided to dwindle the equipment and use the money to pay greens fees.

I purchased a Never Compromise GM2 Exchange 3 putter a few years back that just sat in my back-up bag and ended up selling it. I went to a local thrift shop last summer and came across some old putters and saw one in a ratty condition but had good potential. I was previously using a Taylor Made Monza Roza mallet putter and wanted to try a blade more regularly. I purchased the Arnold Palmer P-101 putter and took it home to clean off the well-used putter. With the nicks on the head I ended up using some filler paint to cover the blemishes and was able to soap and clean off the original Golf Pride grips that was still in remarkable condition.

Comments: The Arnold Palmer P-101 blade putter has a classic look to it, stands out with a black-colored head with the trademark Arnold Palmer umbrella logo on the far left of the face. It’s heel-toe weighted and the neck is a nice flowing non-plumbers neck flange. I believe the one I have is 33”-34”. The feel is a bit above average and allows for goof swing speed management with a good overall weight to it. Off-hits do result in shorter length, due to the age (I don’t know how old), it’s not one of the recent putters touting high MOI.


It sure is s beauty with its simple and elegant look that I’ve had other golfers comment on the putter’s look that I haven’t had with others. If you like classic blade putters that you don’t often see (*Scotty Camerons* cough), check your local used bins for this club.

Score: 4 out of 5

Golf Equipment Review: Cleveland HiBore XLS Driver

Comments: After selling my last MacTec NVG2 driver (see last equipment review), I decided to go back to the HiBore line from Cleveland after keeping the original version in my bag for close to a year (longest driver in use!), so I ended up with the 2008 Cleveland HiBore XLS version.

I previously tried the driver at a demo day and got good distance and low flight at the time. There was a sale at the local Dick’s Sporting Goods and couldn’t pass up the chance to get another 10.5 degree HiBore with an upgraded aftermarket shaft. Dick’s had for the same price as the stock Cleveland Fujikura Gold, either (in Regular flex) Aldila NV or Graffaloy ProLaunch Blue. I previously had an Aldila NV on my TaylorMade r7460 Draw driver and decided to try the ProLaunch Blue since the shaft seem a bit stiffer since I was looking for a lower launching ball flight.

The one thing I missed from the original HiBore that the XLS didn’t was the great metallic crisp sound off the face. The XLS had a deeper, more hollow sound to it. The sound isn’t as bellowing and muffled as the MacTec NVG2, but doesn’t have the “wow” factor as the original sound. The head is a huge 460cc and the deep scoop and alignment aid is nice. Red/silver graphics on the sole are nice as well.

For performance issues, the XLS is a good follow-up that has finally gotten me to consistently go 235+ yards on hits with some pure hits going up to 245-259 yards. Sweet spot is definitely larger and provides forgiveness that I needed. I routinely hit off center and shots still give considerable distance.

Haven’t been able to compare the XLS to the XLS Monster or the previous XL so I can’t compare the leap from the all-black XL or the huge Monster head.

The Cleveland XLS is recommended for those looking for a good amount of forgiveness and require a sweet spot for off-center hitters. Check your local stores for good prices with upgraded shafts that you may be able to get for around $130.

Score: 3.5 out of 5