[Techno Duck]

Forget Craftsman and Mac, SnapOn all the way! I just hope you have $50k to spend on the full mechanics setup.

Seriously though Craftsman are good, reasonably priced, and though they do break from time to time...Sears is only 10 minutes away. Id only buy a full set of SnapOn's when i win the lottery or worked with these tools for a living. Otherwise Craftsman are more than adequte for a backyard mechanic. I brought them a rather large breaker bar bent at a 45 degree angle. They replaced it without even a funny look. Id go with a starter set from Sears, something around the $150-200 range. I bought a great starter set while it was on sale last year, includes all different sizes of sockets and wrenches...etc. Id then buy a set of the universal flex sockets as they come in very handy when working in tight areas.

Remember to pick up a good floor jack and atleast 4 jackstands. A quality Torque wrench and a selection of different breaker bars will come in very handy also. From there i would just go about buying what you need, as you need it.