I was two or three months shy of turning four-years-old when my parents took me to see Star Wars for the first time. If I remember correctly they had already seen the movie once and decided to see it a second time, this time with me in tow.

It’s funny the things a kid remembers. My Mom used to have photos of me taken at TG&Y. If you’re old enough you too may remember walking into department stores and being greeted by a photographer all set up, ready to take photos. That morning my Mom tried to get me to put cowboy boots for my photos and I didn’t want to. She said if I would wear them she would take me to a movie afterwards. I’m sure somewhere my Mom still has the picture taken that day, but it’s of me with my arms crossed, not looking very happy, and wearing cowboy boots. Best I can recall, that’s the last time I ever wore cowboy boots.

Then, we went to the movies. I remember the words scrolling by overhead (I was too young to recall whether or not it said “Episode 4”), followed by a big spaceship being chased by a bigger spaceship with laser blasts and explosions all around. I’ve said it before, but that scene alone has cost me thousands of dollars in Star Wars merchandise over the past 30+ years and counting.

I don’t remember falling asleep, but I do remember my Dad waking me up for the Cantina scene. After seeing that, I was hooked. The only other scene I remember specifically was people clapping when the Death Star was destroyed.

As most Star Wars afficianados know there weren’t any Star Wars toys available for the Christmas of ’77, but that following year, Santa brought me just about everything Kenner had produced. Here’s a picture of me with just some of the things I received. This was taken Christmas morning, 1978.

Every Star Wars toy shown in this photo is sitting on a shelf just outside my computer room at home.