What made me watch macross. First there was the fact they were all in planes which was cool, then it transformed which was even cooler as a little kid. Then there was SDF-1 with is main cannon.
What really made the show appealling to me was a little gerwalk model I had where all the pieces could move, which was cooler than any other toy I had back then. Plus the scenes where the valks go and dodge the huge missle spreads.