Purchasing my first TT, suggestions welcomed

Good morning. Within the next week or so I will be considering several turntables that a close friend of mine has in his collection. While Ive always been a digital guy, theres a part of vinyl that has always intruiged me. I sold of my old setup a few months ago but Ive started putting a new one back together. So far I have the Marantz SC22 linestage with matching PH22 phono stage. Next step is to get a pair of the MA24 monoblocks and use them with a pair of B&W Silver Sig 25s. Also adding a Sony SCD-1, Wadia i170, and Tandberg 3001. Here are the tables that he has in his collection, most of which he has acquired from the original owner who he sold them to while running his hifi store. They are as follows:

SOTA Star Sapphire with Graham 1.5 arm (gold accents on arm etc). This table was reveneered with some sort of rare veneer (cant remember the species) and the vac was placed in its own enclosure thats in the same veneer. Also had the controls mounted onto an isolation platform that was also custom made. Pics:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4212.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4213.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4214.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4215.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4216.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a201/lucasnorman/DSCN4217.jpg

I dont have pics of the other tables but they are:
Thorens TD 126 Mark III
Rek o Kut Rondine with Shure SME arm'
Rek o Kut (dont remember the model) has the 16" tone arm though
Empire 598
Or he has a BNIB Rega P3 in bright green...

So in regards to suggestions, I guess Im asking what table would be best suited for a new user, what could continue to be used as I grow into vinyl, and what would retain its value over time?

Regards,
Lucas