TServo2049 said:

I am still interested in determining whether:

1.) all the versions with the early composites have the same cement blobs as the JSC and other video transfers

2.) the presence of the blobs corresponds with the Tantive orange things NOT being there.

As I said, the few bootleg transfers that come from sources with the early composites are vertically cropped so the glue isn't shown. I'm still wondering if the "glue" source was actually a very early element, predating the orange marks being introduced (on an earlier generation?)

1.) I just checked and the 35mm bootlegs doesn't have those ugly splices. They are vertically cropped, yes, but in those instances where the glue cover a much larger part of the frame in the JSC, there's no glue to be seen in the bootlegs. So it's safe to say that no 35mm prints did have such ugly splicing. The 35mm prints I've seen matches the splices visible in the Technidisc SWE, not that surprising.

2.) It seems like they do as the ITV Broadcast print doesn't have the infamous damage either.