The first time I saw the OT as a kid (I was 7 years old and saw it with my uncle) I saw the 1997 SE. When I asked my mother if she’d get me my own VHS set so that I could watch them at home she went to a second-hand video-store and unknowingly bought the unaltered version. It surprised me a bit at first, seeing that my version was different, but I quickly ended up preferring the original version (even at that age). I would however watch the 2004 SE version once I upgraded to DVD, but I didn’t think of it as “better,” I would even watch my VHS version occasionally. Usually just on my own though, since my friends seemed to prefer the SE (though it being a DVD rather than VHS may have contributed to that.)