At that time most fans were either re-discovering the series through VHS tapes (remember DVDs didn't exist at the time for the original cartoon
) and there were all those old fansites and webrings like geocities sites beginning the earliest online TMNT fandom.
Overall you have to remember the age range of most fans back then was very young, mostly ranging in the 12-14 or so age. Most of us were barely entering our teens back then, besides some of the older fans.