MALE NUDES: "PLAYGIRL'S MEN" INAUGURAL ISSUE: "THE YEAR'S BEST CENTERFOLDS, DISCOVERIES, FANTASIES, AND FICTION": 1975

Los Angeles, CA: Playgirl Magazine, 1975. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. Fine/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. Los Angeles, CA: Playgirl Magazine, 1975. Softcover. Fine/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 100 pages. Rare Playgirl Magazine collectible item. A near-pristine copy of Playgirl Magazine's "Playgirl's Men" 1975 Inaugural Issue. One of the earliest Special Portfolios issued by Playgirl. The first of only two such "The Best" Special Portfolio Issues. Retrospective collection of male nudes. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only that sold out upon publication. There is no ISBN. The Special Portfolio Issue is now rare. Presents Playgirl Magazine's "Playgirl's Men: The Best: The Year's Best Centerfolds, Discoveries, Fantasies, Fiction" Special Portfolio Issue. Summing up the Banner Year 1975, when the magazine hit its stride after the first two years of innovation. One of the earliest - and still one of the best - portfolios ever published by Playgirl in its history: Page after sexy page of male nudes. The models, who all appeared in the original issues of Playgirl Magazine in 1975, represent, individually and collectively, some of the handsomest and sexiest men Playgirl Magazine ever discovered and photographed. Al Cavuoto, John Gibson, and Lou Zivkovich, whose "Life Size Poster" must be detached and assembled piece-by-piece by the reader from the magazine, are the standouts, but among so many others. Their pages are all intact in this copy. It is a well-established fact that a significant number, if not a majority, of Playgirl's readers and collectors are men, gay as well as, by open admission, straight, who were looking to compare and size themselves up versus the models, and in the hope of landing on PG's coveted Centerfold, too. While the "physique" magazines of yore scored their fair share of good-looking and well-endowed models, they remained esoteric and could not attract many of the otherwise willing specimens of American male beauty because the latter feared being branded as gay. That fear was effectively extinguished for good by Playgirl Magazine with its "For Women Only" branding - while being fully aware that men constitute a large, unacknowledged audience. Whatever one's feelings about this strategy, it worked brilliantly, and hastened the acceptance of the male nude as no "physique" magazine - before AND after PG - ever could. Today, Playgirl is seriously collected throughout the world, as nostalgia for a more innocent, happier time Before The Internet, and for the incomparably beautiful men who graced its pages. Many of them will not be equalled much less surpassed. An absolute "must-have" title for Playgirl Magazine and male erotic photography collectors. This title is an erotic photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the 1975 Special Portfolio Issue available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. The condition of this copy, after all these years, must be seen to be believed in its unblemished beauty. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen. Please note: The "Life Size Poster" of Lou Zivkovich must be detached and assembled piece-by-piece by the reader from the magazine. The pages are all intact in this copy. A rare copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER PLAYGIRL MAGAZINE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).