Probably when a coworker at the camera shop decided to get rid of his father's old H1a and a bunch of lenses, probably in ~1994.
I got it with the 35mm f2.0, 50mm f4 macro, and 120mm f2.8 (and skipped the 85mm and 105mm... stupid, stupid...) for something like $90?
All of the other purchases I had made before then were for a step up in capability... better lenses, bigger flashes, more modern bodies.
To me, that's not GAS, and I was shooting semi-professionally at the time (somewhere there's a picture of me with the SuperProgram on the flash bracket, with the Quantum Battery, AF-280, TTL cord, and a Zeiss 28-70 (made by Sigma) lens, with the K1000 as backup). I even had hair then
But the H1a was the first time I bought camera gear for real money just because it was really cool.
Thinking back, I still have the H1a kit, the AF-280 and TTL cord, and the K1000. The rest is long gone...
-Eric