@Verso For someone's first dice set I would suggest a set with all the commonly used dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. I personally always feel like a set should come with a minimum of 3d6, though I prefer 4. The set should also come with two d10's, and some easy ways to tell them apart, either different colors, or one of them should show the "tens place" (ie it shows 10, 20, 30, etc.) so the d10's can be used together to make percent rolls easily.

I definitely see where @eli is coming from with having each die a different color, though personally I like to have my sets all be the same color so I can tell which dice are mine at the table, (as opposed to anyone else's) but I've also been playing long enough that I can tell the dice apart very quickly by shape, so for a beginner multi-colored might make sense.

Like @mdhughes I like GameScience dice a lot too, though mostly it's for the novelty, and because I like dice. I like the idea of buying dice from someone who cares that much about dice (look up some videos of Lou Zocchi talking about his dice on Youtube. The man is passionate about dice). I have my doubts about the actual difference in practice in terms of how they roll. The only die I feel like it's likely to maybe make a practical difference for is the d20, which is round enough, and rolled often enough in many games for those small differences to maybe actually make a difference.

The prices for GameScience dice add up too. Their basic sets ($11) only come with 1d6, and you have to add another $5 if you want the set inked for you. (My un-inked GS dice have to be reinked periodically, my pre-inked ones have never needed any maintenance). I love my GS dice but I'm not sure they fit your requirements of being the "Honda Civic" of dice sets.