Were EQP and BQP Mail Order Only?

[Kurgan]

For the longest time I had thought that to get the Frozen Horror and/or Mage of the Mirror (circa 1992), you had to order them through the mail. This was based upon the fliers included in Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord that teased us with these.

But in recent years I've heard stories from various HeroQuest fans waxing nostalgic about buying these packs at major retail toystores or their dad bringing it home from a business trip.

Are these mistaken memories, or was it in fact, however briefly, on store shelves? We didn't frequent "friendly neighborhood game shops" back in the day because they seemed not to cater to board game fans, it was all model trains, baseball cards and at best, comics. Maybe it was different in major coastal cities in the US.

Anybody else have a different experience? I'm curious what percentage of players ever got to see these packs "in the flesh" in 1992. Granted, within a few years I became more interested in video games and going out (it was high school for me) and kind of left HeroQuest on the shelf for a decade, but perhaps those who were kids might remember?

Do we have any hard evidence that it came out in actual stores (beyond stores that would actually order stuff and put a few limited copies out)? Even a few fliers or catalog scans would be helpful at this point, maybe I just missed them.

[QorDaq]

I picked up the core set, and then eventually all four NA expansions at Walmart. Advanced HeroQuest as well.

[Kurgan]

Pretty impressive. I never got to see Advanced HeroQuest (sounds like I would have been disappointed by it in its original form), but we would sometimes see things from other countries available in some stores, but never one of those...

[SirRick]

I saw the Barbarian Quest Pack at Target, it was about $10 or so. I almost bought it, but I think I went for some TMNT figures or something like that instead.

I regretted that decision ever since.

[Hogg]

I saw them both at a local hobby shop when I was a kid. When I went back to buy them, they were gone. One of my friends had the Elf Quest pack but we never played it.