After two blog entries I'm already wondering what to type, I'm new to this, so I thought I'd tell you a bit about how I became a Star Wars fan. Just when we're all about to see Revenge of the Sith, the final SW movie, maybe it's fun to see how it all began all those years ago.

Well, all those years ago... I'm only 24 and I haven't been a fan for that long. Sure, in school we would make Darth Vader's breathing sound, we would hum the Imperial March or we would talk like Yoda, but had I ever seen the three originals? I don't think so, at least, I have no clear memory of seeing the entire movies, just some images really.

It wasn't until 1997, when the movies were re-released as the Special Editions, that I got interested in Star Wars. I didn't see them in the theater though, but I did buy the special edition VHS box. Pan & Scan and Dolby Pro Logic surround sound. And I didn't have any surround equipment, so it was just plain old stereo. That kind of presentation didn't do the movies any justice, but I got hooked nevertheless. I liked the movies. I watched the movies, again and again. Not every day, week or month, I'm a casual Star Wars fan after all, but a couple of times each year.

I also didn't see TPM on the big screen, I guess I wasn't that big a fan at the time, but VHS came to the rescue once again. I liked Episode I as well, it was obviously a different flavor, but it was and still is good. In fact, sometimes when I watch TPM and AOTC on DVD, (finally no more P&S and crappy stereo, but the entire image on a widescreen TV and with 5.1 surround sound), I think about how TPM is better than AOTC. Don't ask me why, I just get that feeling sometimes.

Look for the story about how I started collecting in my next blog entry, but in 1999 the Lego Group released their first wave of Star Wars sets. I had always been a Lego fan, so it made sense to get some of the Star Wars sets. So I started collecting and I started taking my fandom to the next level, still a very modest level compared to all you fanboys out there, but modesty is my middle name... *Rolls eyes* Well, maybe not. ;-D

Anyway, there was the Star Wars Lego, there were the Special Edition soundtracks, you know, the two disc versions, and then there was the Star Wars website. Look for a story about my history on the site and the boards in the entry after the next one (after that I really don't know what to talk about, I swear), but the site and the e-mail newsletters obviously played a big part in finding out more about Star Wars.

In 2002 I finally got to see a SW movie in a theater and AOTC blew me away! Right after the movie I wanted to go see it again, but somehow that never happened. So tomorrow, when I'll go shed a tear, it's actually only the second time I'm gonna see Star Wars the way it was intended to be seen.

Hence why I like to call myself a casual fan. I'm really not worthy of the label "true fan". *Rolls eyes* True fan... *Shakes head* Does it really matter? Does it really matter how many times I saw a movie, whether or not I know every line of my favorite character (take a guess ;-p) by heart? I like to think it doesn't. We all enjoy the great entertainment that George has made for us and that's all that matters at the end of the day.