thedaner said:

We are now in exciting times, but I will say that it's nothing like it was in '77 because back then, we didn't know what to expect. Upon its release we had one film, a novel tie-in, Topps cards and very little merchandise (and some of it was bootlegged crap--e.g.,"Darth VADAR Lives"). Pales in comparison to today…well, the film WAS unaltered back then...

That's a good point. This time we certainly have an idea of what to expect, and bad experiences with the PT to be wary of seeing again.

But, to be honest, as much as I don't want to pack my bags and dive on the hype train, I'm just plain excited for this whole new "era" of Star Wars fandom. It's like a rebirth, almost, and not in the way that the beginning of the PT Era was, because, unlike after 1983, our expectations really couldn't be lower, and now we're seeing all that painful PT Era imagery being swept away and the continuity is being scrubbed clean. It's almost like we're going back to a blank slate where things aren't as restricted anymore and anything could happen again.

It's exciting!