Yes, good first impressions are good... But remember, first impressions have to be made to be good, and too much work (for example anti-aliasing on a first character Wad) can cause one to give up long before finishing.
I can tell you one thing that I know the spriter personally and he wants to AA for the sake of it looking good. He doesn't care if it will take a while, as long as it looks good. Plus hard work pays off in the long run.