Hmm, that's a good theory. Is it possible that there was tweaking done in '97, or that the elements were exposed at different levels?

The only reason I am hesitant to accept that 100% is because in so many media before the SE the sabers are fatter. Every video I owned had the sabers like in the GOUT, and in publicity material they often are, as well as in comics and the older video games. I suppose many of those designs could be based off of home video versions which never had proper levels, although it doesn't quite explain many of the pre-home-video media. But then there are just as many with the thin sabres, so I guess it varied. What is funny is that I don't remember ROTJ ever having the fatter blades that ESB does, but maybe my memory is wrong.