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The first people in line get their tickets [1.9Mb QuickTime movie]

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Thursday, May 13, 1999 3:38:19 PM EST

(CNN) -- Braving inclement weather and enormous lines for days -- or weeks -- to buy advance tickets to "The Phantom Menace" was a test of will for thousands of "Star Wars" fans. But for the true die-hards, it doesn't end once the tickets are in hand. They're hopping right back in line. After all, as one man put it, "We got to get the best seats."

The film doesn't open until May 19.

Even if they don't return to the line, they'll retreat home with some interesting war stories describing what they endured to get tickets on Wednesday.

Covered in blankets and plastic to protect herself from the bad weather, Lee Dahlhauser spent all night outside the theater in Ames, Iowa. It paid off. She bought the first tickets in the city. Dahlhauser says she had been waiting for that moment for 16 years, ever since the last Star Wars episode "Return of the Jedi" came out.

Fans in Seattle, Washington felt they needed a different kind of protection. They dressed as Jedi Knights and wielded lightsabers to fend off those who might cut in line.

Johnny Shipman probably could have used a lightsaber to fend off hecklers and the media in Augusta, Georgia. The 25-year-old welder waited in line for a week to be the first to buy tickets.

"It was just intense," Shipman said. "Cameras all in front of me, news crews and everything. ... It was more than I expected."

Director-producer George Lucas originally banned advance ticket sales to prevent scalping. But pressure from theater owners forced him to relent. They came to a compromise: 12 tickets maximum per person. Vendors sold out within minutes.

A ticket for the 12:01am showing of "Star Wars" on May 19

Nostaglia was the driving force for many people waiting outside Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood for weeks. An estimated 400 people lined Hollywood Boulevard and two more streets.

The original "Star Wars" debuted there in 1977. "If Lucas thought it was good enough to premiere here, it's good enough for me," said 30-year-old Susanna Modjallal.

Others just didn't want someone else to ruin the plot for them.

"I want to be surprised," said Pete Levin, who was 32nd in line outside a Baltimore, Maryland theater. "I didn't want anyone to tell me the ending."

Those who would rather "hold the line" than stand in line tried to get tickets via MovieFone.

The telephone and computer sales company added about 30 percent more phone lines and 10 times its computer capacity to handle the onslaught. It wasn't enough. So many people called for tickets, circuits were jammed. The Web site had the same problems.

But never fear, says Christine Fakundiny, director of marketing for MovieFone. "People are getting through." Her advice for anyone trying to get tickets for later dates is "keep trying."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.