I contemplated the Mantis for a while. Something about the aesthetic of it I'm just not a fan of. Which is a bummer because it seems like a real good deal. At this point I think I'll probably end up sticking to the RackBrute, at least for a first build. I pulled the trigger on the Morphagene because Reverb had a really nice sale going that dropped the price of a new one about $80 bucks. Any opinions on the rest of my first purchases above? I've also been moving more towards Stages and away from Batumi a bit just because it seems like it has more usefulness in a smaller starting rack.