Yeah, now imagine you'd only ever seen Star Wars on a 12" screen, and then bang. The first one came out, when, 78?
It came out in '77 but some theaters were still showing it into '79 around here--this one theater had it for like two-and-a-half years! Back then there were no VCRs and no cable (at least by me) so that was the only way to see it. I would've loved being able to see it on a 12" screen, too--I bet I would've worn the tape out inside of a few months :) As it was I had a record with much of the soundtrack and dialogue on it, so I played that over and over to the point where I could recite the entire script off the top of my head.
Speaking of which, I just put it in the VCR now :)
Did you ever read the novel version of the original? I liked that and the first "fanfic" novel inspired by the original, Alan Dean Foster's "Splinter of the Mind's Eye". Foster was also writing some of the earliest "Star Trek" novels back then.