In June '95, on the last day of school, I was pleading with my mom to let me stay up later when ESB came on the TV.  Not knowing what it was at all, I tried to use it to help my cause.  I said that I really, really wanted to watch, that it was my favorite movie.  She saw right through that and sent me to bed, but not before I got my first glimpse at Chewie, all covered in snow shooting at the Probe Droid. 

The next day I couldn't get that "weird, fuzzy guy" out of my mind and decided to ask my mom to rent the tape for me.  She got  them one at a time, and had to have watched them five times each that week.

The day that ROTJ was due back my cousin came over.  I tried to get him to watch with me, but he said it stupid and boring.  I finally got him to watch the final fight between Vader and Luke, and converted him there on the spot.  When our grandmother (Nana ) came to pick him up, she surprised us by taking us to Toy'r'Us.  He picked out Darth Vader while I searched in vain for Chewie.  After going through ever single figure and not finding a single one, I decided that I wanted Vader, too.  I picked one up, and he got upset because "we can't have Vader fight Vader!"  I wasn't going to budge, and was beggining to cry (I was only 7!) when Nana stepped in and made him get Luke in the X-Wing gear. 

We played with those figures everyday for 4 or 5 years, and of coarse we added several dozen more along the way.  Today, all I have left off my first figure is Vader's cape - with the dirt baked into it and all.  I can't remember exactly what happened to him, but my money is on him being half-buried somewhere in my old backyard.

Of coarse, finding Princess Leia in a huge bin of figures at KB is my favorite memory.  I was so excited, jumping up and down and screaming "I got Leia!  I got Leia!"  I had to return the R5-D4 I just bought to get her.  Of coarse, her hand fell off later that day 

-Raia