"The "Hayden replaces Shaw" thing has no comparison to this. Yes, once rumors started leaking there was some reason to wonder--but what rumors have leaked about an LD transfer? None! Its all based off the two "1993" and "less pristine" comments by Jim Ward which have more reaonsable explainations regarding the original cleanup and archiving of the OOT for the special edition."

Specifying a specific year, as well as the technology of that year, is a pretty odd thing to do. Wouldn't you agree?

"if you want to try to figure out from the vague statments made what kind of video we will be getting, this is the most rational explaination."

How rational was it for Lucas to put a sticker on the 95 LDs that it was the last time to buy the original versions? How rational was it for Lucas to recently say that the O-OT were half-finished films, and that they never existed, within a timeframe of these films that would suggest he was well aware of these DVDs coming out soon? Why would LFL spend so much time and money on versions that Lucas has publicly disavowed for almost 10 years? Is that logical?

If you have have spent any real time reading Lucas' quotes about his films, you would drop this "rational" reasoning very quickly. Now, this is not to say that the "1993" quote proves that the DVDs will be laserdisc rips, but it punches a huge hole in this belief of how "reasonable" LFL can be. Hell, the "creative differences" excuse for the '04 soundtrack punches an even bigger hole in your logic.