Playboy Special Editions
A Playboy Special Edition cover (July 1999) featuring Christi Taylor
Executive EditorStacy S. Collins[1]
CategoriesPhotography/erotica
FrequencyVaried By Publication
PublisherPlayboy Publishing
First issue1963
Final issue2016
CompanyPlayboy Enterprises, Inc.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Playboy Special Editions (formerly known as flats, then Newsstand Specials[2]) are a spin-off series of Playboy magazine containing glamour and softcore nude photographs. The initially infrequent and later semi-regular editions ran from 1963 through 2000 (under the Playboy Press brand) then re-branded from 2000 through 2012 final issues (under the Playboy Special Edition "SE" brand). A one-off special edition was published in February 2015 featuring images of models in different locations within California from the controversial photographer Terry Richardson.

Unlike the monthly magazine, which features a variety of articles, opinion columns, and works of fiction, only minimal text was included in the Special Editions, mostly consisting of captions of the photographs and readers' letters. Two issues were usually published each month. While the magazines often featured former Playmates of the Month, many other models also appeared in them.

Early issues, beginning in 1983, featured approximately 100 pages of old reprint and outtake photos of Playmates with no specially commissioned photos. Issues from the early 1990s began to include a number of "one-shot" models purchased in bulk from glamour photographers. By the mid-1990s, Playboy had established a distinct identity for the line by mixing new shots of recent Playmates with new models, some of whom soon became as popular as the Playmates themselves.

Playboy "Special Collector's Editions". These monthly publications contained themed pictorials each month and ran from August 2013 through September 2016. The issues published from 2013 through 2015 were sold at Barnes and Nobles bookstores. In 2016 the Special Collector's Editions were only mailed to subscribers and thus are much harder to find.

"Supplement To Playboy", aka Playboy Supplements. These books have never been sold by PLAYBOY and could only be obtained in sealed subscription issues, sealed newsstand issues, by giving a gift subscription or making a purchase from the PLAYBOY Products Catalog. Most say "Supplement To PLAYBOY" on the cover, except a couple of cover variations described in the Supplement section below. Issues from 1989 through 1994 were 52 pages in length. In 1995 Uncensored Portraits was 52 pages but Sexy, Steamy, Sultry was only 36 pages. From 1996 on all issues are 36 pages. The dates listed for each book are taken from the copyright information on the inside cover. Beginning in 1996 PLAYBOY began reprinting certain books and changed the dates as appropriate. Aside from the dates the contents of each reprint are identical. Sometime around 2010 they began producing books that had no copyright dates in them and also may have contained fewer than the standard 36 pages. Some of these are reprints of books issued before 2010 and others are new books entirely. The dates assigned to these are best guesses based on the information at hand.

Playboy VIP Club Magazine. V.I.P. Magazine was the official newsletter of the PLAYBOY Clubs and was sent to Club "key holders" through the mail, or copies could be picked up at any PLAYBOY Club. Each issue is jammed full of pictures of the Clubs and Bunnies as well as celebrity visitors and extensive coverage of the featured entertainers. These magazines also contain a wealth of ads for numerous PLAYBOY products and are excellent for reference. There were five issues of V.I.P. published in 1964 (FEB, APR, JUL, SEP, and Dec.), and three in 1965 (MAR, JUL, HOLIDAY). After that, a quarterly schedule (SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER) was established and continued from 1966 until publication ceased with VOL.47, Fall 1975. For some unexplained reason, after a lapse of nearly seven years, another issue was published in the summer of 1982. This is the nearly mythical "V.48". Since there is no evidence that this issue was ever mailed to Club key holders, the only way to have obtained a copy was in person at one of the Clubs. Beginning with V.25 and continuing through V.47, each issue contained three coupons which could be detached and redeemed at a Club for the then-current issue of PLAYBOY Magazine, or in later years OUI Magazine as well. Needless to say, this was an extremely popular bonus, and a huge percentage of the copies still in existence are missing one or more of these coupons. Although the page containing the coupons was not included in the actual page count of the issue, most collectors find them highly desirable.

Other notable Playboy special publications. Playboy Philosophy, this four-volume series published from 1963 to 1965 reprints all twenty-two (22) chapters as they originally appeared in PLAYBOY magazines from DEC 1962 to MAY 1965. Each volume is approximately 48 pages with heavy stock covers, and each volume cover is a different color. Playboy merchandise/gift catalogs, various catalogs printed between the years of 1964 through 2011 in which Playboy merchandise, collectibles, clothing, and back magazines issues were available for purchase using in-issue order cards. The Playboy Channel (Guide), 21 pamphlet sized channel guides published from November 1986 through August/September 1988, which listed in guide format content playing on the then very popular cable channel (as TV Guide and local newspaper guides declined to include Playboy's content in their publications). Pocket Playmates, a 6 issue series that ran from 1995 to 1997 where each issue focused on playmates from a specific span of years (Vol #1 - 1989 to 1994, Vol #2 - 1983 to 1988, Vol #3 - 1977 to 1982, Vol #4 - 1971 to 1976, Vol #5 - 1965 to 1970, and Vol #5 - 1953 to 1964, 1995 to 1996).

List of Special Editions

There were several long-running series of Special Editions, as well as short series and one-offs.

Beauties

Book of Lingerie/Lingerie

Playboy Special Editions' longest-running series is Lingerie (formerly known as Book of Lingerie). The first issue was released as Book of Lingerie in 1984. Two further issues were published in 1987 and 1988; a bimonthly series began with the November 1988 issue. The title was changed to Lingerie with the September 2002 issue.

Celebrities

College Girls

The May 2002 issue caused some controversy at Baylor University, which has a religious affiliation. Baylor declared that associating with the magazine would be a violation of the school's code of conduct.[3]

Girls Of/Seasonal Issues

Girls/Women of the World

Girls Next Door

Playboy Nudes

Playmate Search

Playmates

Voluptuous Vixens/Vixens

The Voluptuous Vixens / Vixens series features models with large breasts. 10 issues of Voluptuous Vixens were published, once or twice per year, beginning in 1998. A bimonthly series, simply titled Vixens, began in 2005 and ran for 12 issues. The original title resumed in 2007, appearing on a thrice-yearly schedule.

Wet & Wild

Occasional

One-shots


Special Collector's Editions

Supplement To Playboy

List of Playboy Press Publications

Before publishing its Special Edition line, Playboy published a line of hardcover and paperback volumes featuring text, photos, and cartoons; some included only content reprinted from the parent magazine; others incorporated original material. Several volumes collected only cartoons from the magazine. A few volumes went through multiple printings, sometimes with replacement covers.

Series

Cartoonist collections

One-shots

References

  1. ^ Playboy Special Editions Message
  2. ^ Playboy Special Editions FAQ
  3. ^ "Playboy back at Baylor". Waco Tribune. April 21, 2001. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
  4. ^ At one time, Playboy characterized the third volume in this series as the first in what became its Special Edition line
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