Playboy Relies on Virginia Beach Man for Back Issues

A Virginia Beach blogger named Mike Gruss, caught my interest with his story about the man, other than Hugh Hefner, who owns Playboy.

When Playboy decided to put its entire collection on DVD, they noticed that its library was incomplete. And, what issues they did have, they needed to leave them in mint condition. Of course, they're going to be worth so much money some day. Gruss reported as much as $20,000 each. So who did Playboy editors call? Apparently, Virginia Beach lover boy himself, Ben Rawles.

Rawles is 61. In 1965, he was just a college boy when he started reading Playboy. In 1983, he became one of their biggest collectors.

Obviously, he found a keen interest in the nude, yet tasteful magazine. Today, he has three copies of every published issue. According to Gruss's blog, one is kept in mint condition. One is a "reading" issue, and one is used for his scrapbooks. Rawles even has Braille issues of Playboy. Can you imagine that? A blind guy actually wanting to "read" Playboy?

But, we're not done yet. The retired man actually has an extra bedroom in his house that is filled with his collections of magazines, including a bunny outfit.

It seems that this room, nicknamed "man land" or his "office", is only going to grow even bigger. Rawles is the go-to man that Playboy has called on for years. He has been greatly compensated since Playboy has been giving him extra goodies along the way. He has also received a lifetime subscription.

I think that this story is absolutely crazy, not in a perverted way. It's just so silly. You think of "Hello, Kitty" collections, or hoards of "Star Wars" figurines sitting on someone's shelf, but not Playboy. People usually keep those hidden under their bed or at the back or their closet.

But I guess Mr. Rawles is a good guy. Most likely, he is a happy guy. Gruss said that Rawles didn't even charge Playboy to borrow his archived sets. However, he said that Playboy thanked him in the DVD credits for his "extraordinary archival assistance."