Playboy Special Editions (formerly known as Newsstand Specials) are a spinoff series of Playboy magazine devoted entirely to softcore nude photographs of the Playboy models that are found sporadically scattered in the monthly Playboy magazine.
Unlike the monthly magazine, which features a variety of articles, opinion columns, and works of fiction, the only texts found in the Special Editions are captions of the photographs. Approximately two issues are published each month. In addition, the models that appear in the Special Editions are not necessarily former Playmates of the Month, though such Playmates also appear in them.
Early issues, beginning in 1984, 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 unique identity for the line by mixing new shots of recent Playmates with new models, many of whom soon became as popular as the Playmates themselves.
