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Below is Rob's 'lost chapter' from his first post:
So it's that time of year again; summer has gone, the nights are getting longer and Christmas is getting closer. So the only logical thing is to go to Germany, eat spiral potatoes and play games!

Oh yeah it's Essen time baby!

Rocking up at 11 there's still queues out the door, everyone seems excited from the smallest child to the old men. Quickly making my way passed the queues I deposit my suitcase and get told to go straight in.

It's already rammed as any one whose ever been to the show will know. The usual arrays of Euro wooden part dealers, cookie cutters and cosplayers are there along with the big boys of the show; AEG, Mattel, Stronhold and Iello. It's like meeting an old friend, memories of happy times come back as I start on the shopping list and kickstart pick ups.

There was no bags being handed out today (or they had already ran out) so it was hunting for the smaller companies which is made harder as they have yet again expanded in to another hall. They are now using every hall that Messe have with smaller sections sealed off for business suites and loading.  It's the largest spiel yet, if you was new to the show it would be very disorientating to find your way around.

Getting Dragon and Flagon from stronghold for Dave I noticed they were in very short supply of it and they weren't even half way through day 1! There's lots of promos and limited editions for sale such Raise Your Goblets which has a limited edition with a real bottle of wine and gold coloured Goblets in a black box(nice but getting it back without damaging the bottle would be hard unless your driving). The Dice Tower are here offering all sorts of promos from Machi Koro add ins to Blood Rage exclusive content. Grabbed a few there before hitting up Multiversium and grabbing the rest on the shopping list and then Ultimate Guard. Sadly this year they aren't offering USB chargers; just wristbands, and lanyards/bags if you spend enough with them.

Loads of interesting Kick Starters(Conan is here again!) and tonnes of games to play, hopefully will be able to get some in tomorrow as it took all day to get the requests and look around.

The hotel was slightly further out of town, just a 10 minute tram ride. Is servicable, but not as nice as the apartments in Berliner Platz. It's a quiet part of town with local amenities such as cafes, an Aldi and a few decently priced resteraunts abd bars(€1.30-2 for a soft drink or beer compared to €3-5 in town). There's a Pizza shop and Chinese so is good enough