--- title: Star Wars Photos: See Original Mega-Fans From 1977 description: See how the movie's original fans showed their love canonical: https://time.com/4148344/star-wars-fans-1977/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-16T13:30:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:45.545Z article:section: History og:title: What It Looked Like to Be a 'Star Wars' Fan in 1977 og:description: See how the movie's original fans showed their love og:url: https://time.com/4148344/star-wars-fans-1977/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ebfeebc9ec5f443/69887546a988ca19106b5ba1/151214-star-wars-fans-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Star Wars Fan 1977 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What It Looked Like to Be a 'Star Wars' Fan in 1977 twitter:description: See how the movie's original fans showed their love twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ebfeebc9ec5f443/69887546a988ca19106b5ba1/151214-star-wars-fans-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What It Looked Like to Be a _Star Wars_ Fan in 1977  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 16, 2015 1:30 PM UTC  Linda Cappel with her collection of 'Star Wars' memorabilia, Oct. 4, 1977. Linda Cappel with her collection of 'Star Wars' memorabilia, Oct. 4, 1977.Bob Koller—NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 16, 2015 1:30 PM UTC These days, as _The Force Awakens_ hurdles into theaters, it’s not a mark of distinction to love _Star Wars_. If you want to stand out, you have to [line up days in advance](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/08/star-wars-line), watch [from space](http://time.com/4146994/star-wars-space-station-astronauts/) or shell out for rare [memorabilia](http://time.com/4138849/star-wars-auction-sothebys/). But when the first _Star Wars_ film was released in 1977, the world was stunned by the extent of some people’s devotion, as these news photos from the time show. And those fans had a major effect on the Hollywood economy. “The price of shares in 20th Century-Fox, the maker of _Star Wars_, has more than doubled since the film opened in 32 theaters four weeks ago, leading a boom in movie and entertainment stocks generally,” TIME noted that June. “Produced at a cost of $10 million, _Star Wars_ by most estimates will gross $100 million this year alone. Fox, which owns 60% of the picture (Director George Lucas and some partners share the rest) stands to gain $30 million. Add in Fox’s share of cult merchandise already inspired by the film —model spaceships, T shirts, 640,000 sound-track record albums, figurines of the movie’s fantastic characters, such as Artoo-Detoo and Chewbacca—and the company stands to stash away a lot of cash.” **_Read TIME’s full_** **Star Wars** **_story from 1977_** **_, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The _Star Wars_ Explosion](http://time.com/vault/issue/1977-06-27/page/70/) ### See Every _Star Wars_ Cover in TIME Magazine History  R2-D2 and BB-8 on the cover of the Dec. 14, 2015 issue of TIME. Marco Grob for TIME  The May 9, 2005, cover of TIME TIME  The Apr. 29, 2002, cover of TIME TIME  The May 31, 1999, Asia edition of TIME magazine Cover Credit: PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY JOHN WHITE. PHOTOGRAPH OF DARTH MAUL BY KEITH HAMSHERE ©LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  The Apr. 26, 1999, cover of TIME TIME  The Mar. 17, 1997, Asia edition of TIME Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH ©LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHT RESERVED  The Feb. 10, 1997, cover of TIME TIME  The May 23, 1983, cover of TIME TIME  The May 19, 1980, cover of TIME TIME  The Feb. 20, 1978, cover of TIME Cover Credit: ALAN MAGEE  Billy Popovich, 4, left, and Keri Dubowitz, 4 with a Wookiee (John Caruso of Colorado Comics), Sept. 14, 1977. Ernie Leyba—The Denver Post via Getty Images  Linda Cappel with her collection of 'Star Wars' memorabilia, Oct. 4, 1977. Bob Koller—NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images  On Dec. 21, 1977, Olivia Whiteman of Brooklyn, N.Y., shows two new space age toys available in the toy department of New York's Bloomingdales store. Marty Lederhandler—AP Photo  Steven Lekowicz reads on his 'Star Wars' bedspread on Oct. 11, 1977. Glen Martin—The Denver Post via Getty Images  Haik Gazarian, 11, from Caracas, Venezuela, who now lives in New York, tries to cut with a toy "Force Wand," an illuminated toy sword inspired by the film "Stars Wars," during the visit to the toy department store, on Dec. 22, 1977. Marty Lederhandler—AP Photo  Theater goers wait in lines in front of the Avco Center Theater in Los Angeles to see "Star Wars," June 7, 1977. 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