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It was the perfect storm, and it's kind of hard to explain to someone who wasn't there. It was EVERYWHERE. Take something like Minecraft or Fortnite, or even the MCU today and magnify it by about a hundred fold. It was insane. I'd say it really started late '97/early '98 when the marketing for RB really picked up (they released in the fall for US), the anime and TCG launched, and we started seeing toys pop up. I think KFC had one of the earliest promotions for it. The cards were banned at my school, but we brought them anyway. And we'd bring the little Tomy figures and have battles at recess. I even had Pokemon bedsheets. I moved in 2000 when I was ten, and my friends gave me figures and cards as going away presents. And then it helped me make new friends with the neighbors, and we'd sit out on the porch til sunset trading and battling with our link cables. I still have my old toys and cards. And my original Game Boy and Red.
I miss it so much, I hate being grown
