alright, total virgin question, but i never got into Robotech back in the day. Does the cartoon still hold up today? For someone without the nostalgia factor, is it enjoyable? Where do I start?
If Robotech holds no nostalgia for you, then you might want to seriously consider jumping on board through Jack McKinney's novelizations of the series. I saw bits and pieces of the cartoon as a kid and loved them but didn't get the whole story until I read the books. I later caught up on the cartoons when I was in high school and was pretty disappointed about how cheezy some of it played out on screen. With the books you just picture everything like a Michael Bay mecha flick and its all cool.
I had a friend who loved Robotech as a kid and then bought a bunch of the videos but found them to be almost unwatchable.
Personally I love it all now; I'm not bothered by "80's cheese" as in addition to Robotech I also still love the original He-Man cartoon as well as Blackstar, GI Joe, and several others.
The story is great and would do well for a live-action telling, just make sure you're properly "in the zone" and you should appreciate the cartoon like the rest of us do.