My Many Star Wars Trilogies.

The first time I went to the theater it was Star Wars. I was around a year or two old and I think I slept through some of it, but I do have a few vague memories of the theater that day. I started collecting the toys around the same time, although it isn't usually called collecting when you're that young.
The first Star Wars movie I had on home video was A New Hope recorded from television. Everyone had collections of movies taped from t.v. back then. That is something we have now replaced with burned DVDs. I probably had Empire and Jedi recorded from t.v. at some point too. Eventually, though, I graduated to buying official copies of the trilogy. I have owned different editions so many times I really should be entitled to a free copy of the next release.
I'd like to recall how many trilogy editions I've owned. I might miss some, but here we go. Dates refer to releases, not to purchases. I've tried to list them in the order I obtained them.

0.5. First VHS release, 1982/1984/1986.
I Wouldn't swear to owning any of these, but I think I had some but not all of the three movies from the original VHS releases. We Probably found one in a garage sale or something like that. I am pretty sure I didn't own real copies of all three until the first trilogy pack I bought.



1. First trilogy box set, 1990, VHS.
I think this was the first time the three movies were sold together in one box set. Three VHS tapes in a fancy slipcase. I think this one had a two piece slipcase. This was exciting because I finally had all three movies.



2. THX box set, 1995, VHS.
These were supposed to be somewhat remastered, with improved picture and sound. The old trilogy was probably wearing out by then anyway.



3. Special Letterbox Collectors Edition, 1992, VHS.
This was the definitive set for me for a while. First time having them without the disgusting pan & scan. This came in a fancy big box with a hologram cover, a collectors book, and a bonus tape. I gave this away when I moved out of 303.



4. Widescreen Special Edition set, 2000, VHS.
This may have been the last VHS copy of the trilogy I owned. This was the second release of the special edition, and the first not to call it a special edition.



5. First DVD release, 2004, DVD.
The first time the trilogy was released on DVD. This is the special editions, with some alterations. This also came with a bonus disc with a two and a half hour documentary.



6. Original trilogy box set, 2008, DVD.
This six disc set features both the theatrical and special editions of all three movies. This is currently the definitive DVD release of the movies due to the inclusion of the theatrical release.



7. Complete Saga, 2011, Blu Ray.
This nine disc set is by far the best release of the trilogy, save for the exclusion of the theatrical. The movies all look wonderful in HD, and the three discs worth of bonus material are a nice touch. It took me quite a while to pick this up, but I recently found it used for ten dollars. Ten. Dollars.



So, I guess that's seven and a half times that I've bought the trilogy, unless I missed one. I currently still have the blu ray set and the last DVD box set. I'm keeping the DVDs just for the theatrical versions. I really had a good reason to upgrade every time. From the first time I could own them all together, to updated VHS quality, to letterbox, which was a big deal before everything came out with full and widescreen options, to DVD, to Blu Ray.

Until next time, may the force... nah.