Playboy Special Editions (formerly known as flats, then Newsstand Specials) are a spin-off series of Playboy magazine containing glamour and softcore nude photographs. The initially infrequent and later semi-regular editions ran from 1964 until the publication of the final issues in 2012.
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.
