Honestly, I didn't get into the fandom until a few years ago, but I'd always been a HUGE fan. For some reason, it never occurred to me to look much into L&C fanfic or anything like that even though I'd done so for a previous show. I guess since people I knew really didn't like the show as much as I did, I assumed that I was in a minority.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered so much dedication to this fandom! My first experience was with the Seasons 5 and 6 continuations on Pam's site; I'm pretty sure I found them as they were being written, but I can't remember. But even after that, the fandom kind of dropped off my radar. I rediscovered it about two years ago and I've been hooked ever since!
But to get back to the original question, I definitely would have bought the DVDs without being a huge part of the fandom. L&C has always been (and will always be) my all-time favorite TV show ever.
