How was the NA Mario’s Tennis ‘For Display Only’ box distributed to stores?

I’m making this post after discussing this topic with another member here. I’ve always wondered why it seems that the Mario’s Tennis ‘For Display Only’ box is relatively common. Of course, I realize it’s a bit expensive, but it’s far easier to come by than, say, boxed copies of NA Jack Bros or Waterworld. To me, that would imply pretty widespread distribution.

I’ve heard before that the boxes were sent to Blockbuster. Was that exclusive, or did other retailers receive boxes? How did retailers get them? To my knowledge, the box was never shown as a listed option in the retail purchase documents that show items like the Virtual Boy Lighted Sign or kiosk(s). I wonder if anyone here knows more about this topic and could fill some holes in my knowledge. Just based off of the number of boxes I see floating around in collections and on eBay, it stands to reason that some stores received more than just a single box.