haha!
The black dot is a small piece of nylon that's used to have the stick held by the machine while it's dipped into the lacquer. Then it's sawed off...that's what I remember reading in a Calato article a long time ago anyway.
I guess anyone that reads this has to go now....masonni, do your stuff haha!
I had one pop out years ago, and it's only a 16th or and 8th inch long.
The 3B is a nice stick.
Some years ago they made some of these for me in a 16" length (2 times) and I liked them a lot. I still have a couple pair I use once in a while, and they are still straight after 9 or more years!
Even at the regular length, it's a pretty nicely balanced stick for heavier/rock playing, but the 16" length is really nice and has good bounce.
If you like it the way it is, cool, but you can maybe have your drum shop call Calato and see if they'll do a run at a different length if you would rather have them shorter. I got 6 pair the first time and 12 the second, and it didn't take that long.