I was 6 when it came out and I didn't get into SW until '82, but even though I wasn't really paying attention in '77 I still remember that it was THE cool thing at the time.

I remember going trick-or-treating (probably Halloween '77) and my friend's little brother dressed as Luke, complete with a "litesaver." Another friend of mine had ALL the Star Wars toys at the time (he once put his hamster in the cockpit of a Tie-fighter and called him Darth Hampster) & he also had a bootleg videotape of SW that I'm sure his father procured for him.

My older sister had a friend with 2 sons and I remember seeing a landspeeder toy for the first time at their house.

SW was just everywhere and there wasn't much else to compete for the public's attention in the same way.