[MisterShark]

It actually doesn't bother me over-much and certainly wouldn't keep me from buying a set. It's actually just a small issue that I can live with.
I know about the white ring but will have to agree to disagree where the alignment not looking right because of the ring is concerned; I still think it would look better aligned, despite the minimal interruption of pigmentation.

I agree with the feel being top-notch and am doing some flourishes with my Crystal Oysters right now at my desk.

Regarding plastics versus ceramics though; isn't it all semantics? They're both made of plastic after all; the industry just gives them a different name to catagorize them, based on sound/construction/pigmentation methods.
Both are plastic though however you slice it. Kinda like sucrose vs. fructose vs. corn syrup: it's all basically sugar when you boil it down to it's core molecular structure.