For me, it was my mom getting a copy of VIII when I was around 8 years old. I fell in love with the characters as well as the "sciencey" feeling of the world and got VII, IX, and X. VII in particular captured my heart because it featured actual aliens, which was something I was deeply disappointed in for not appearing again in the series. I remember when I eventually watched the original, I was put off by how aesthetically different it was from the sequels I was familiar with. However, as I've grown older, I've also come to appreciate what the original film was trying to accomplish.