It was mostly distributed by FuncoLand, and only really started to pick up when they included it in their Fan Club subscription. B&N bought them in 2000 and pushed it hard while expanding stores, eventually they got big enough that they could get exclusive reveals.
So it’s a case of pretty much always being bundled in with another service!
(According to my hastily-done internet digging)
It was mostly distributed by FuncoLand, and only really started to pick up when they included it in their Fan Club subscription. B&N bought them in 2000 and pushed it hard while expanding stores, eventually they got big enough that they could get exclusive reveals.
So it’s a case of pretty much always being bundled in with another service!