My 6 yr old loves Macross Frontier because of Ranka. She can't read fast enough for the subs, but she watches the episodes any chance she gets. She picked up enough of the story to know what is going on at a level that matters to a 6 yr old.
I tried getting her into the older stuff with Robotech, but it didn't stick (not enough Minmay for her, and Minmay sucks compared to Ranka/Sheryl).
I don't let her touch the valks, but the 1/60 Q Rau is fair game since it is built pretty solid. She just wishes it was Klan Klan's!