When the trailer came out, a friend had a VHS, and we watched it... 30 times that night at a party. Loved every second of it. I expected to love it, and I did.
Saw TPM at midnight, again the next morning, drove to Las Vegas and caught it again the next day.
It wasn't for a few weeks (and two more viewings) that I started to get annoyed with Jar Jar.
The only merchandise I had was the novelisation I picked up later that summer, and a Qui-Gon cup I still dont know where it came from.