Playboy Enterprises International Inc. and Modesto, Calif.-based John F. Turner Co. are teaming up efforts for the 16-month calendar, which retails at $15.99 and includes a 44-minute "Playmates at Play" DVD documentary.
The calendar features more than a dozen "Playmates” on the grounds of the 5.6-acre Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills.
"The calendar reveals intimate locations at the Playboy Mansion of which most people only dream of getting a glimpse," John Turner, president of the novelty company that has a licensing deal with Playboy, told XBiz.
Turner said that the Playmates are photographed around the mansion’s pool, koi pond, bathhouse, front yard entrance, "jungle" walkway and grotto.
The Playmate line-up includes Hiromi Oshima (June 2004), Krista Kelly (April 2004), Sandra Hubby (March 2004), Marketa Janska (July 2003), Carmella DeCesare (April 2003), Pennelope Jimenez (March 2003), Serria Tawan (Nov. 2002), Teri Harrison (Oct. 2002), Christina Santiago (Aug. 2002 and “Playmate of the Year” 2003), Lauren Michelle Hill (Feb. 2001), Irina Voronina (Jan. 2001), Cara Wakelin (Nov. 1999) and Karen McDougal (Dec. 1997).
The calendar is available at select Borders, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, Calendar Club and Spencer Gifts. It will also be available on line at John F. Turner Co.’s website. John F. Turner's other licensees include such properties as Pamela Anderson, Anna Kournikova, E! Entertainment's Wild On, the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, the MLS and the NHL.
Chicago-based Playboy has more than 1,500 branded products sold in more than 125 countries. Global retail sales from the licensing division reached nearly $350 million in 2003.
Although shares of Playboy are down 29 percent in 2004 even though the company is having arguably its best year since undergoing a major corporate restructuring in 1998.
Wall Street analysts predict that the company will report a full-year profit in 2004, the first since it began diversifying from a business focused predominately on magazine publishing to one that emphasized Internet, television and licensing businesses.
The company saw its first-quarter net income nearly triple on revenue growth.
