SilverWook said:
I guess now would be a bad time to mention one of my neighbors had a Betamax back then, and claimed he had a SW bootleg.
In 1977 or 1978 a friend of mine had a SW bootleg tape that he asked me if I wanted to watch (I was about 7 or 8 at the time). I don't think I got to see much of it because my mom told me it was time to go home not long after he started the tape. All I really remember about seeing the film that day are the opening scenes with 3P0 and Artoo in the Tantive corridor. I didn't see the whole film until the 1982 re-release. Probably better that my 1st SW viewing experience wasn't on a TV set.
BTW- I found this amusing...a film archivist's dry humor (posts 6-11):
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/304178/a-few-words-about-king-kong-in-blu-ray