The extact date was september 1st 1998 when it first came on and I remember going through about 15 different search engine prior to that looking for that name and none was found. I've only gotten 5479 so far this month and 16220 in March. And I presume that less than you got probably. Oh yeah and if you don't belive me its right here:
http://www.necollectibles.com/stats/. Wheres yours at?