Finally a good question ;P
I came into Rayman when I was 12 back in 1999 when Rayman 2 just came out on the N64. What basically happened was that I was flicking through an N64 magazine when I saw their Rayman 2 review, and I couldn't stop looking. I kept buying other magazines that had Rayman content in, like stickers. This went on until I got Rayman 2 on the Dreamcast, which I wouldn't stop playing, despite being confused by the fact that none of the characters spoke English.
Then I got Rayman 1 on PSOne, which again wouldn't stop playing. I was really disappointed with the ending though and the fact that you don't actually fight Mr Dark but instead a whole bunch of previous bosses jumbled up. Nonetheless it was a nice long game that made me want to finish right to the end, with great music and lush graphics to boot.
After that, I got Rayman M and Revolution on PS2. I loved all the extra bits in RR, and while I did like RM, I still thought it was disappointing because it had Ly on the back cover but she wasn't in it. I didn't mind Tily at all, but hated playing as the Henchman 1000. Soon after I got Rayman 3 on both PS2 and GBA.
Between then I showed my love for Rayman by drawing all my old fanart and hunting for anything other than the games, like the TV series and the bush figurine, both of which I finally have as of now
