 | Playmate of the Month: Karen Price, photographed by Ken Marcus Gym Dandy | January’s Karen Price can fly through the air with the greatest of ease, yet she’s always down to earth |
 | The World of Playboy |
| Dear Playboy | |
| Playboy After Hours | |
| Playboy’s Travel Guide, by Stephen Birnbaum | |
| The Playboy Advisor | |
| The Playboy Forum | |
 | Playboy Interview: John Lennon and Yoko Ono | A candid conversation with the reclusive couple about their years together and their surprisingly frank views on life with and without The Beatles |
 | Article: The Astonishing Wrongs the New Moral Right | Its ruthless election tactics were mild compared with its plan for the future, by Johnny Greene, illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft |
| Opinion: New Right and Old Paranoia | Some well-chosen words by one of the right’s prime targets, by George McGovern | |
 | Pictorial Essay: Barbara Bach | Once thought too European, too sophisticated for “Charlie’s Angels, this native New Yorker went primitive to co-star with Ringo. Hail “Cavmen’s” lady, by Bruce Williamson; photographed by Tom Staebler |
 | Fiction: God Emperor of Dune | Duncan Idaho challenges the worm’s deity, the vengeful Siona bristles under his tyrannical rule — can Leto rewrite his own destiny?, by Frank Herbert (first look at a new novel) |
 | Gifts: The Eleventh-Hour Santa | Rest ye merry, gentlemen procrastinators. Playboy once again comes up with a sleighful of last-minute yuletide goodies, photographed by Don Azuma |
 | Personality: Prime of Coach Bum Phillips | He’s everything our favorite heroes have always been — kind, wise, levelheaded … and smooth as a shot of sour mash, by Roy Blount Jr. |
 | Attire: The Tomorrow Show | Five famous designers focus on look-ahead looks for the Eighties, by David Platt, illustrated by Pat Nagel |
 | Fiction: Heart Transplant | She knew he would thank her in the morning, by Ray Bradbury |
 | Drink: Cognac | Hero’s drink, after-dinner digestif and the liquor of lovers — all describe France’s headiest liquid treasure, by Emanuel Greenberg |
 | Article: Why We Crave Horror Movies | The best of them prey on our fears of everyday living … and it takes real art to make a movie scarier than living every day!, by Stephen King, illustrated by John Youssi |
 | Article: Sexual Office Politics: A Guide for the Eighties | Two things will happen as more women join the executive ranks — the politics will get tougher and the sex will get terrific, by Michael Korda |
 | Humor: Playboy’s Party Jokes |
 | Modern Living: Cars ’81: Playboy’s Pick of the Pack | Our own selection of those foreign and domestic machines with the style, speed, engineering and breeding to satisfy the urbane owner, by Gary Witzenburg, illustrated by Martin Hoffman |
 | Pictorial: All That Flash | Durable space hero Gordon returns in a cinematic extravaganza with monsters, narrow escapes, villains and girls, girls, girls |
 | Travel: Inn Love in Mexico | Eleven posadas to be passionate about this winter, by Stephen Birnbaum, photographed by Paul Gremmler |
 | Pictorial: LeRoy Neiman Sketchbook |
 | Pictorial: Honky-Tonk Angels | The urban cowgirl is the new queen and the big-city honky-tonk is her empire (with Playmate Tracy Vaccaro) |
 | Article: Stocks, Bonds, Rock ‘N’ Roll | If you still think your favorite rockers are blowing all their bucks on sex and drugs, have we got a story for you, by Peter S. Greenberg, photographed by Bill Arsenault |
 | Humor: That Was the Year That Was | Tongue-in-cheek remembrances of sundry personalities and events that made news in 1980, by Tom Koch, illustrated by Bill Utterback |
 | Pictorial: Playboy’s Playmate Review | A roundup of the past delightful dozen (Henriette Allais, Terri Welles, Teri Peterson, Lisa Welch, Ola Ray, Mardi Jacquet, Jeana Tomasino, Martha Thomsen, Victoria Cooke, Liz Glazowski, Gig Gangel and Sandy Cagle) |
 | Playmates’ Progress (Henriette Allais, Terri Welles, Teri Peterson, Lisa Welch, Ola Ray, Mardi Jacquet, Jeana Tomasino, Martha Thomsen, Victoria Cooke, Liz Glazowski, Gig Gangel and Sandy Cagle) |
 | Ribald Classic: The Girl Who Always Gave Away Her Slipper | From the tales of Shih heng yen, 1627, retold by Charles Chandu, illustrated by Brad Holland |
 | Playboy’s Annual Awards | Announcing the prize-winning authors, artists and photographers whose contributions were judged by our staff to be the past year’s most outstanding |
 | Humor: Playboy Funnies (Cruiser, The Loner, The Tales of Baron von Furstinbed, Tyrannosaurus Sex, Meaty Myths, Vaginella, 5 Cent Mary, Annie & Albert and Holistic Harry) |
 | Playboy’s Pipeline | Tips on keeping your lifestyle in high gear |
 | Playboy Potpourri | People, places, objects and events of interest or amusement |
 | Playboy’s Informed Source | What’s new in cross-country skiing |
 | Playboy Puzzle, by Nicole Gregory |
 | Satire: Little Annie Fanny, by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder |
 | Playboy on the Scene: Gear | Organization, man! |
 | Playboy on the Scene: Fashion | The new skin game, by David Platt, photographed by Steve Ewert |
 | Playboy on the Scene: Habitat | Marvin Hamlisch’s media room |
 | Playboy on the Scene: Grapevine (Burt Reynolds, Rick Nielsen, Barbara Carrera, Nancy Allen, Bill Cosby, Lesley-Anne Down, Maud Adams) |
 | Playboy on the Scene: Sex News |
 Alden Erikson |  Bernard Kliban |  Buck Brown |  Buck Brown |
 Eldon Dedini |  Francis Wilford Smith |  Gahan Wilson |  John Dempsey |
 Phil Interlandi |  Rowland Wilson |  Roy Raymonde |  Michael Ffolkes |
 Edmond Kiraz |
 Playmate Calendar ad |  Michelob Light at (with Playmate Monique St. Pierre) |  Oui ad |  What Sort of Man Reads Playboy? |
 Subscription ad (with Playmate Ola Ray) |
Pipe and PJs 