Lucas claims he's not re-releasing the originals to appease fans, but rather to bate them. "Now we'll find out whether they really wanted the original or whether they wanted the improved versions," he said. "It'll all come out in the end."
That's from MTV Movies news <http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1531527/story.jhtml>.
So that's it, isn't it? Release an inferior release and gloat when no-one buys them.