Game Player's Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games Vol.2 No.3 (June-July 1989)

You might be on to something. I never saw the earlier issues of GP at our news stands or magazine sections in department stores or grocery stores. But they were all over Toys R Us and Children's Palace. Our KayBee (KB) Toy Store carried EGM only for the first year, it was the only place you could really get EGM in 1989 at retail in our area. 

This also reminds me, I asked my sister to buy me the newest issue of GamePro. So she comes home and says Matt I'm not mad but these magazines are just too expensive. And I thought well yeah I guess to her, $3.95 is a lot to spend on something I'll read a few times and throw away. But then I see that she has the GamePro Guide To Street Fighter II Turbo haha. She happened to be at Blockbuster, saw the GamePro logo on something, and bought it.  Blockbuster didn't have any issues of GamePro, just their strategy guides. It was like $12, which would be like $25 in 2024 money! That said I still have the guide 30 years later, so it was worth it.

5 hours ago, TresHombres said:

You might be on to something. I never saw the earlier issues of GP at our news stands or magazine sections in department stores or grocery stores. But they were all over Toys R Us and Children's Palace. Our KayBee (KB) Toy Store carried EGM only for the first year, it was the only place you could really get EGM in 1989 at retail in our area. 

The problem is, I don't actually remember where I picked up this mag, but it seems incredibly unlikely that it was a Toys R Us, as I'm fairly certain I had no access to a Toys R Us where I lived at the time.  Back then, to me, Toys R Us was just this magical place I saw sometimes on TV commercials for timed shopping spree contests (where you got to run through the store, putting as much stuff into your cart as you could for 5 minutes - oh, the dreams I had about winning THAT.)  I'm not sure I actually saw a Toys R Us IRL until 1994 or so.

Our Toys R Us was close to an hour away I think Children's Palace had a lockdown on our area. As soon as they folded here in about 1992-1993, Toys R Us immediately arrived here.

Never heard of Children's Palace, but we definitely had a KayBee Toys in the mall.  I have no idea how far away the nearest TRU was, since my parents would have never taken me out of their way to a toy store, but there must have been one SOMEWHERE, since otherwise they were wasting their time buying advertising slots in all the cartoons I watched every day.

I may not have ever seen a TRU until I was too old to get excited about it, but those commercials made their mark regardless, as even today I can recall their jingles.

More bikes, more trains, more video games

It's the biggest toy store there is

I don't wanna grow up, 'cause baby if I did

I wouldn't be a Toys R Us kid