They say "don't start with a showstopper," yet in the world of transforming mecha, the designers of Super Dimension Fortress Macross did exactly that. The Valkyrie set off a trend of mecha that can transform into planes, but nearly all the designs it inspired are inferior to this perfect, classic original by Kazutaka Miyatake and Shoji Kawamori. Then again, maybe it was only a showstopper for other designers- someday we might get to talk about the mecha from future Macross series, which are no slouches themselves.

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If you want to find us on Twitter, Dylan is @lowpolyrobot and Six is @sixdettmar. Our opening theme is the Hangar Theme from Gundam Breaker 3, and our ending theme for this episode is Runner by Makoto Fujiwara from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Our podcast art is a fantastic piece of work from Twitter artist @fenfelt. Want to see a list of every unit we've covered from every episode, including variants and tangents? It's right here.

Units discussed:Shinnakasu VF-1J ValkyrieSpace Gandam VVF-1J Valkyrie "Macross The First"Northrom VF-1A ValkyrieStonewell/Bellcom VF-1D ValkyrieNorthrom VF-1S ValkyrieVF-1A GBP-1S Armored ValkyrieVF-1J GBP-1S Armored ValkyrieShinnakasu VF-1S Super ValkyrieVF-1 Atmospheric-Escape BoosterVEFR-1 Electronic Warfare ValkyrieVF Orguss ValkyrieVF-X Prototype ValkyrieStonewell Bellcom VF-X-4 PrototypeVE-1 "ELINT Seeker" ValkyrieShinnakasu VF-1A Super ValkyrieShinnakasu VF-1S Strike ValkyrieNorthrom VT-1 Super Ostrich ValkyrieNorthrom VF-1X Valkyrie PlusNorthrom VF-1X Super Valkyrie PlusVF-1J Valkyrie "Armored GERWALK"