Published by Los Angeles, CA: Playgirl Magazine, 1983
Seller: ModernRare, CHICAGO, IL, U.S.A.
First Edition
Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 75 pages. Published in 1983. Rare Playgirl Magazine collectible item. A fine copy of Playgirl Magazine's October 1983 Special Portfolio Issue. The very first such "Men of Summer" Special Issue. Its success was followed on a sporadic basis by "Men of Summer" Portfolios throughout Playgirl's history. 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 "Men of Summer" 1983 Special Portfolio Issue. One of the two best and most collectible PG Special Issues in its history. Page after page of male nudes, in the great outdoors, basking in the glorious sun. The models, who all appeared in the original issues of Playgirl Magazine during its very first full decade, represent, individually and collectively, some of the handsomest and sexiest men Playgirl Magazine ever discovered and photographed. Laid within is a dazzling Giant Poster, which must be assembled from the separate, folded pages. The Poster showcases Joseph Pearson, one of Playgirl's handsomest and sexiest models ever. He's an absolute stunner, among the Top Ten Playgirl models of all time, right up there with the very Best of Playgirl. One of the singular appeals of PG's Specials is that apart from reproducing images from its previous Issues, the Portfolio also showed previously unpublished nudes, "bonuses" for the magazine's fully evolved, loyal audience, just before men began taking "selfies" and the exhibitionists among them started posting them online. 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 Special Portfolio Issue available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER PLAYGIRL MAGAZINE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). no.