Are new forged irons better than old?

I have a 5 handicap and am thinking about getting a new set of irons. I was thinking about Mizuno, Titleist or Cleveland forged irons since forged irons are hot now. But, looking at the Mizuno MP33's, it appears the new forged irons look very similar to some of my old forged irons (1976 Wilson Staffs, late 1970's Top Flites, etc.).
Are the new forged irons much different than classic forged irons? I realize cavity backs were revolutionary - but forged irons are forged irons, right?
Would it be worthwhile (or silly) to take my old Wilson Staffs and replace the shafts - or should I invest a lot more $ to buy a new (although similar looking) forged iron?

What are your thoughts? Please advise. Thank you.

If you have had your irons since the 70's, the shafts definitely need replaced. The only reason you would want to change heads is if the grooves are flattened or the face is concaved from 30 years of golf.

I don't care if they are useless but the Mizuno MP-32's sure look sweet!!!!!!

I'll second that. As long as the heads are in good shape, just reshaft.

Hold a credit card against the face of the clubs. If there's gapping between the card and the face, it's time for new heads.

As for grooves, you could probably stand to have the heads regrooved. That said, I understand Ralph Maltby played grooveless clubs for a time to prove that grooves didn't impact ball flight, spin characteristics, etc. They DID serve to help channel debris away from the impact zone (helping to retain more energy to transfer into ball flight).

Thanks for the replies. I have been playing cavity back (knockoff) irons for 20 years - so my old forged irons are still in good shape. I may dig them out of storage and see about reshafting them.

Just to clarify the question, are new forged iron heads different than old forged iron heads? A ton of research and technical advancement is apparent in today's cavity back irons. Has there been much (or any?) improvement in forged irons?

Thanks.

The metal used is most likely the only difference - aside from the fact that your old school 5 iron and your new 7 iron are probably the same loft.

The impact of computer aided design techniques, improved materials production techniques and quality control; coupled with people generally having more spending power, has driven the very obvious improvements in cavity back clubs. Although more subtle, many of these advances will have been applied to forged clubs as well so a new forged clubhead might look very similar to one made 30 years ago but in reality they will be very different.

Mizuno probably makes the finest forged blade in the world...always has.

If you want to consider a nice cavity back that has a blade look and feel, you might want to check out the old Ping ISI sticks. Lot of really good players use them and won't give them up.