Playboy Fetishists Fear Playboy Fetish Getting Less Cool
Playboy's once-mighty breast photography publishing empire is crumbling into dust, so the company is just selling its logo to anything and everything in order to raise some cash. This upsets the weirdos who collected Playboy crap before it was cool.
The WSJ tracks down some of America's foremost perv collectors of Playboy paraphernalia, probably by using sex offender registries. Kidding! The point is, they're angry about all these Johnny-cum-lately Playboy-branded items degrading the value of their collections. Among those speaking out:
1. Ken Ritchie, a 57-year-old Memphis resident whose Playboy habit runs to $3,000 per month. "How many guys do you think are going to go out and buy navel rings because they've been licensed by Playboy? It's not a must-have item."
2. Mike Travis, also 57, a retired teacher in Madisonville, KY, who moved into a larger house in order to devote an entire floor to his Playboy collection.
3. John, Camacho, 38, Michigan: "He has an iron-on image of the cover of the September 1976 issue of the magazine but he says he's reluctant to put it on a shirt given the growing popularity of Playboy apparel among women. 'Now it's almost too feminine to wear something like that,' he says."
