Sometimes Foodie: Rice Cakes: Food or Packing Material?

Did anyone else go through a rice cake phase in the late 90's to early 2000's? I remember eating chocolate flavored ones with mini chocolate chips all the time. I also remember eating them with little pods of apple cinnamon flavored peanut butter. After searching online for ages, I found it! It was Jif Smooth Sensations in Apple Cinnamon. Specifically the sample versions seen in this photo! My mom got a bunch of free samples but due to peanut allergies, she couldn't give them away to kids, so we were drowning in these things at home. (According to the 1999 commercial, I guess it was a fully realized product in jars?)
Were rice cakes a universally popular snack in the late 90's? Or was this a personal quirk?
Anyway, Lidl released some seasonal rice cakes in their fall line up and I thought, why not?
I figured these would be the same size as the snacking ones sold by Quaker, roughly the size of a cucumber slice, but these are mini-mini.
Look at these things! They're itty bitty. After a quick Google search, to see if these are the tiniest rice cakes ever, I think I found a similar item, Drizzilicious. They're mini flavored rice cakes that looks just like these. Maybe this is a no-frills repackaging? And actually Aldi had a similar product in the Fit & Active line as well. So I have seen rice cakes this tiny, it's just been a while.
Today we have two different flavors, cinnamon swirl, and salted caramel.

Cinnamon Swirl: The rice cakes are crisp with a lovely texture, and they're dusted in a light coating of cinnamon flavoring, with a drizzle of icing. The icing is very sweet, and melts quickly in your mouth, like coconut oil. But the cinnamon flavor is pretty weak. It reminds me of that Cinnabon breakfast cereal. It looks good, but tastes bland. They're okay, but not my favorite.
Salted Caramel: When they say salted, they meant it. There are actual big hocking flakes of salt on these little rice cakes, you can crunch them as you chew. (I found some loose ones in the bottom of the bag, looks like kosher flake salt?) The saltiness is pretty intense, but tolerable. The icing is caramel flavored, similar to novelty coffee syrups or commercial caramel corn. The drizzle cuts through the salt and makes things more balanced, but every now and again I'll get a super salty piece that throws me for a loop. Like an ultra salty pretzel. (These rice cakes are making me thirsty.)
I can easily snack away on these at work, but at home, where they have snacking competition, these don't make the cut. Another one-and-done for me. I may not buy these again, but I think the cinnamon one in particular would be a great snack for toddlers and kid-lunches.
Want a recommendation for something similar? The Aldi Fit & Active Caramel Rice Snacks are my favorites. So addicting with just the right amount of caramel flavoring. Did you also go through a rice cake phase? And what's your favorite flavor?