Positives: Excellent grain in a somewhat more conventional bowl shape offering practicality and thick walls. Recently a pipemaker friend in the US put me in touch with the supplier of this rod stock - it is vulcanite rod stock, the same as black or cumberland (not acrylic as most unusual colors are), but I've obtained a good supply of rods in a variety of green and other colors, and in different patterns (some are mottled like cumberland, while others are rippled like the stem shown here). The company that produced this stock is out of business, so there won't be any more, but it's going to be fun material to work with. All of these stems will be handcut, obviously, so this material will only be found in use on Talbert Mortas and Talbert Briars. Aside from the unusual stem, the whole pipe came out well - nice flush join of shank to shank extension, effortless draw, easy pipecleaner passage, etc.