Probably like alot of you out there, you are old enough to have seen the original Star Wars in 1977 at a movie theater.  Heck, I remember waiting in a line wrapped around the movie theater to see Empire Strikes Back.  I have lived in the Ohio/Kentucky area all my life. Cincinnati, Ohio is where Kenner was base out of that made the first Star Wars figures.  I ran into a lady that worked there and told me that when Kenner closed down, they took all these original figures and put them in a hole in the factory and covered them up with cement. 
Anyway, I had a few of the original figures when they first came out. Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO we had several and played with them and eventually the got beat on or lost. 
My main passion is collecting 1/18 scale military figures, but now and then I pickup a Star Wars figures that I like.  I have a few of the ships as well.  But enough about me... what about you guys? What go you into collecting Star Wars?