I wasn't old enough, nor young, to send off and get a "no prize" per se, but I'll join the conversation that I wrote into Nintendo Power and other gaming media. Still early enough that there was no way to know right away if they even read it , unless you picked up everything sequential off the rack.
Even Mag's on the rack back then had a lot more to offer in way of getting out buzz!
I don't recall ever getting mail back that they were or were not going to use it That would be so cool if publications still did that in some way!
Whether it be a retweet @Crops068 has, and him and @BladeTX have got in Walking Dead letter pages. It IS FUN to reminisce!