Gary - I know reduction is near-guaranteed death for those colors but I've had issues with long garage/annealing cycles as well. Best (for me) to be cautious but I'm glad you've not had issues. Edit: I tend to work solid - which may affect my experience there. As for my marble, based on NS's annealing chart it may not be correctly annealed. It was garaged at 1050 for several hours, and, struck at 1075 for 1 h, at annealing temperature for 1h and ramped to strain point and held for 30 mins then ramped fairly quickly (couple hours) to 300 and shut off. I have a fiber kiln so I need to ramp rather than shut off to avoid losses to thermal shock from too-rapid cooling. for a 1.5" piece, NS recommends 6 hours at annealing temp plus 6 more at just below strain point. If I was making adult toys, I'd use that schedule - but not for a marble.
Short color List for a beginner:
* NS Amber Purple & Double Amber Purple
* NS Loki's Lipstick
* NS Blue/Red/Green Exotic
* NS Multi
* NS Turquesa
* NS Butterscotch & Caramel (Caramel is a stronger version of Butterscotch) *
* NS Blue Moon
NS Pomegranate or TAG Elvis (self-striking red with long working tolerance) - layer it over white (or even clear) for a lighter red
NS Onyx (very tolerant black)
TAG Blue Stardust for some sparkle - layer it over lighter colors - like butterscotch or star white.
* NS Mystery Adventurine for some more sparkle with silver color change fun - layer it like blue stardust or just use it as is for a darker effect
NS Star White (a bit more advanced - use less heat as it can boil until it is fully melted in, and even then you should baby it)
NS Lava or Goldenrod or Poppy or Cherry (more advanced - prone to boiling if not handled very carefully - but beautiful and worth the effort)
* Try CLEAR frit/dots/stringer/skip-tracing on these colors for interesting results. For more dramatic results reduce after melting in the clear. The colors without a * are more
"WYSIWYG", though you can try clear on them too if you'd like.
You will quickly learn that a great many colors are members of the Amber Purple family, with similar working constraints and some modifications. Loki's lipstick is a good example of this.