My "from zero interest to gotta get it" experiences are with the AMT "Interplanetary UFO Mystery Ship" and Bandai's 1:144 VF-11MAXL.
I never liked the rather bland look of sci-fi ships from the time the UFO kit was designed, and apparently neither did any of the LHS's other customers, so it sat there for over a year. Earlier this year, the No Aftermarket GB came up and I was trying to think of a project for several weeks. While watching the SF movie Serenity, I was suddenly inspired to do a project converting the UFO into a Reaver ship using extra bits of styrene and the leftover engines from an old Anakin's Podracer kit that I gave up on over 10 years ago.
While I was working on that kitbash, my fiancee commented on the odd color of the plastic, and I mentioned that the kit was made to glow in the dark. Suddenly, I wasn't the only one who liked it and it was "suggested" that I get another to put together with no paint for a glowy addition to the mantel.
But wait, there's more...
While working on these I had this nagging feeling I'd seen the shape of the ship without wings somewhere before. I finally figured it out and once I get a third copy of this kit I had zero interest in a year ago, I'll be sure to post pics of the WIP in the SF section.
As far as the Bandai Macross kit, I hate pink. I mean I really hate it. I'd much rather go get certain "supplies" for my fiancee that most guys are embarrassed as hell to take to the checkout than take one step into the Barbie aisle at the toy store when a friend's daughter has a birthday, that's how much I hate pink. So you can guess how eager I was, big Macross fan that I am, to buy a pink robot/airplane twin kit. Wasn't. Gonna. Happen.
Well, something occurred to me earlier this year. The transforming airplane/robots in Macross are called "Valkyries", but I've yet to see anyone do one in a paint scheme resembling the Norse battle maidens. Now I'm planning on getting one together, painting it mostly brown with brass highlights for a gag and naming it "Brunhilde" ( from the opera-themed "Kill the Wabbit" cartoon ).