Greetings and happy new year to all!

Y'all been pretty helpful in the past, so I'm trying my luck once again.

2000 4runner.

Recently the ignition cylinder (where the key goes) has started to get a bit "sticky". One day I had some difficulty simply turning it and found out, that if I pull the key back ever so slightly it works fine. Pressing the key all the way to the bottom causes it to not turn.
My job as a courier require me to do a lot of stops, and I turn on and off the rig quite frequently.
Next day with this in mind I had no problems with that, but....
About 3 times when I shut it off it was really hard to turn the key the first two positions CCW.

Not wanting to get stranded somewhere in BFE, I ordered a new ignition cylinder.
Supposedly it is super easy to swap them, but when I try to pull out the cylinder it won't move past about 1/8".
Yes, I turn the key to ACC and press the spring loaded pin.
I have pulled as hard as I can on the key, tried many times, but to no avail.
Someone on the 3rd Gen group on FB suggested that I wiggle the gear lever (auto box) and move it left after pushing the plastic tab. Not sure what that would do, but I tried and it made no difference.
Another guy suggested that I drill out the cylinder.

Does anyone here know any tricks for getting that pesky cylinder out?

Thank you in advance!

Claus