When it comes to Mantle, is it better...

[Promethius88]

I agree that it is all personal preference. I guess my philosophy is that the higher you go up with the price tag, the fewer who are going to be able to afford those, making the lower to mid grades a more solid purchase. With the "investor" side of high grade, that probably doesn't hold as much water as it used to. But also, as those higher graded cards get purchased and put back, collectors will have to start going down the quality ladder to get what is available.
Maybe start out with some lower grades then over time get some that are higher grades...selling out the lower grade to ease some of the pain of buying one a couple grades higher.
As you can see by the responses, personal preference varies and there is much to be said for each opinion. While i personally don't like oc cards, you can get some really nice ones for a fraction of the cost of their straight grade counterparts Personally I would rather have a centered card in a lower grade but seems like that is becoming more the norm causing prices to spike on the well centered stuff.
Best of luck in whatever road you choose and be sure to post pics!
Tim