After a record Gen Con (see "Gen Con Attendance Breaks Record"), two Fall conventions serving the games business, Spiel Essen and New York Toy Fair, are reporting big early numbers.

New York Toy Fair, the first since 2020, is reporting that attendance will be up 7% over the 2020 event.  The 2020 Toy Fair was held only a couple of weeks before nationwide shutdowns began in mid-March, but we attended and found almost all U.S. companies exhibiting; the mood in 2020 was concerned, but not overly so (see "Coronavirus and Game Supply Chains").  Attendance may have been off in 2020, but not a lot, so it looks like exhibitors and attendees will give the first fall New York Toy Fair (see "Toy Fair Shifts Dates") a look.  The Toy Fair dates are September 30 to October 3.

Just a few days later on October 5, Spiel Essen will kick off, and organizers have announced that exhibit space will set a new record, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.  Eight hundred and fifty exhibitors will cover 32,400 square meters of space in six halls.  Spiel Essen was acquired by the organizer of Nuremberg Toy Fair early last year (see "Nuremberg Acquires Essen").