Can't tell you what it is like to play plastic drums... still working on learning the wooden ones.. but here is some history I found..

Before Vistalite

Vistalite was the name of the acrylic drum line produced by Ludwig. Although now synonomous with acrylic drums, Ludwig Vistalites were not the first and, some would argue, not the best acrylic drums produced. Acrylic drums were first produced by Bill Zickos from Kansas in 1959 with commercial production beginning a decade later. (Ron Bushy from the heavy metal group Iron Butterfuly was the first Zickos endorsee in 1969.) In the early 1970's the Fibes drum company took plastic percussion to a wider audience with both Bill Cobham (Mahavishinu Orchestra) and Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) playing clear acrylic kits from Fibes. Legend has it that Ginger Baker (Cream) made an acrylic kit himself by heating sheets of plastic over his stove (see adverts section)...... click the linked title and read on.. http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/rockandpop/vistalites.html from.. http://www.vistalites.com/

Here's another little piece says a lot of the same things but the last paragraph talks about the tone and playability of the drums.. http://www.jimdero.com/News2002/ClearDrumsModernDrummer.html

Thanks for the info!