I don't want to pour water over the excitement in this thread, but I'm honestly curious: why is this such a big deal to you? From a purely practical standpoint, I would guess that every single person who has expressed excitement about this already has these books (I do, and I haven't played 1E since, well, 1987 or so); secondly, as has been noted, these books are available used for quite a bit cheaper on Ebay, and there is just no beating the old vintage covers (especially the first PHB with the statue and the 2nd DMG with the wizard opening the doors).
This seems to be a good move by WotC from a PR standpoint--this thread bears that out (even James M of Grognardia claims he'll get a set, his first WotC purchase since 2007). But I'm just wondering why there is such excitement. I mean, I would think what 1E fans would really want is new material, an actual reboot of the line with ongoing support, even if it is only one product a quarter (now that would be really cool). Or, perhaps, more practical products that aren't readily available, like a compilation of 1E adventures as delericho mentioned.
Again, I'm not criticizing the joy--I'm actually quite glad to see Old Schoolers excited about a "new" WotC product. I'm just trying to understand the specific/actual reason for the happiness. Is it because this gives a certain kind of respect for AD&D and the Old School community? Is it the new covers and the collectible factor? Is it the possibility that they might be re-printing more? Or something else?