Should I use
BULLSEYE or SYSTEM 96?

revised February 2005

It's a common question among beginners - major artists don't ask: they've been using Bullseye for years.

This question has also been the basis of a relentless comparative ad campaign that Spectrum Glass Co. (the parent of "System 96") has run since their recent entry into the fusing market.

Comparing an unproven product to the industry leader is a common marketing tactic.

Until recently the litany of reasons Spectrum gave for choosing System 96 included claims that "96 COE glasses have a Longer Working Range" which they promised would give the user "more control over surface dimension, more options in design [!] and a wider margin of error". After we had both glasses tested by an independent laboratory, disproved their claims, and sued for false advertising, they retracted the claims.

Since the lawsuit, Spectrum has reduced these claims largely to:
1) it's cheaper
2) the product line is a little weak, but they're "just getting started"

We're happy to start there.

Since the claim of CHEAPER is being championed by their new mascot, Mr. Yikes. Let's take a closer look at Mr. Yikes' Math.

Mr. Yikes' Math Class

Mr. Yikes tells you to

"Take the price you pay per pound" for Bullseye*. "Multiply it by 1.6. That's what you're paying per square foot."

"Now - compare that to what you would be paying, if you were buying System 96"

What Mr. Yikes doesn't tell you is that Spectrum glass is thinner than Bullseye. How much thinner? Oh, about 12.5%. What's that mean to a fuser?

Well, cut two square feet of Bullseye into 1/4" strips - that's the width you need to achieve your standard fusing thickness (1/4" or slightly more than 6mm). Cut two square feet of Spectrum into 1/4" strips. Lay them on edge and fire them.

Yikes, Where did the System 96 go?

Where did Mr. Yikes go?

Back to the store to buy enough glass to finish his project?

I bet that makes the System 96 people happy.

* Yeah, Mr. Yikes doesn't like to say "Bullseye", so he calls us "COE 90". It's rare that Mr. Yikes is totally straight about anything, so we've gotten used to this.

Hard Time Seeing Straight?

By the way, maybe you noticed that Mr. Yikes is a little cross-eyed? That may account for his not noticing something that we did when we first lined up all the Spectrum strips: one end was thicker than the other.

That's because a 24" wide Spectrum sheet is thinner in the middle than at the edge. If you cut a 12" strip from the center out to the edge you'll get a significant variation in strip thickness.

What's that mean to fusing? Just that you'd better be careful in your lay-ups if you don't want your striped panel to end up all cattywampus.

NOTE: "Cattywampus" is another highly technical fusing term that means "cock-eyed" Don't confuse it with "jiggly wiggly" which is what the Spectrum people used to call lines made with Bullseye glass before the lawsuit. Did you notice any jiggle or wiggle in the striped Bullseye panel? No? Maybe Mr. Yikes needs glasses.

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Of course we're having a little fun here - at Mr. Yikes expense - and we don't intend to make light of what you pay for glass. That's a concern to anyone working in the field. But what you pay for glass and the value that you receive is not nearly as simple as Mr Yikes wants it to appear. We'll pick this discussion up in a future chapter on GET SMART.

For now, let's take a look at the second argument the Spectrum folks make for using System 96.

System 96 is "Really Getting Started!"

The main complaint we've heard from kilnworkers about the System 96 line is that it's so limited. Especially when compared to Bullseye.

System 96 tries to downplay this by claiming that "96 is the most common artglass C.O.E. worldwide" and suggesting that "although [the rest of these glasses are] not yet tested" they will fit the System 96 glasses made by the current two S96 partners, Spectrum and Uroboros. We'll address this claim later.

First, let's just take a look at the items available in the System 96 palette and the Bullseye Compatible palette.

Where did these numbers come from?

From a tally of the products listed on both the System 96 website and the Uroboros 96 section of their website, compared to the Bullseye product line as contained in its new (soon to release) Catalog #3 and the Uroboros 90 section of their website.

What's all that Uroboros 90 doing on the Bullseye side?

In spite of the supposedly growing System 96 line, their partners at Uroboros still list more items in an expansion designed to match Bullseye, than in the expansion matching Spectrum. According to their website, about twice as many. Why is that? We're not sure, but we're guessing that they're simply responding to market demand. Include them or not in your choices of either option.

The simple reality is that the Bullseye compatible line has had a 25 year head-start in giving artists what they want in glass - and accurate information - for kiln-work.

If Mr. Yikes and his friends think that we're slowing down now so that they can catch up - well, they're aiming at a moving target.

PS - If you missed the previous information about our lawsuit and working range, click here.

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