In addition to the copies distributed by Diamond UK, the normal difference between the Top 500 number and the total print run, in this case Dark Horse distributed its own store variant copies, rather than running them through Diamond as most publishers do. Retailers, including GameStop, placed substantial orders for retailer variants of the book, building up the print run.
Had the retailer variants passed through Diamond Comic Distributors, Stranger Things #1 would likely have ranked among the top five comics for September.
Dark Horse said that it had also distributed its own retailer variants for Fight Club 2 #1, the only other title it handled in this way.
