Robert Osburn seemed a little nervous.

There were people in his shop Friday morning, waiting to get a copy of the new “Playboy” magazine. And his brother was still driving them in from Kansas City, Mo., to Lawrence.

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“He just called and he’s about a block away,”Osburn announced to the half-dozen customers at Naughty But Nice, 1741 Mass.

“It’s like Fort Knox waiting for a gold shipment to come in,” he said, smiling.

What customers were waiting for was the October issue of the magazine, which includes three Kansas University students in the photo feature, “The Girls of the Big 12.”

The first issues of Playboy hit Lawrence Friday morning as KU junior Jim Buchok, 20, from Edina, Minn,. couldn't wait to look over the Girls

Most local bookstores and magazine sellers were to get the magazine through their regular mail distribution by Tuesday.

Two stores plan to have autograph signing sessions. Those sessions will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road, and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hastings Books, Music and Video, 1900 W. 23rd.

But Osburn and his brother, Richard, decided to get a jump on the competition and get as many Playboys as they could on Friday to cash in on the local interest.

When Richard Osburn finally arrived, he told his brother he was disappointed. He had hoped to get 400 copies. But his distributor was able to give him 54 copies.

“We’re disappointed,” Robert Osburn said. “We’ve had inquiries about this for the last three weeks.”

After unwrapping them, the brothers sold five copies in the first three minutes, including to two KU female students.

The first issues of Playboy hit Lawrence Friday morning as from left, Richard Osburn, and Robert Osburn, co-owners of Naughty but Nice Inc. 1741 Massachusetts look over the Girls

The women wouldn’t identify themselves, but they said they wanted to check out the magazine to see if they knew any of the people.

They went outside and sat in their car for several minutes, looking over the magazine.

By noon, the Osburns had 24 left to sell. They were down to their final two magazines by 2 p.m.

“We’ve sold about a half dozen to girls, including one of the girls who’s in it,” Richard Osburn said.

Most of the customers were male students.

Jim Buchok, 20, a KU junior from Edina, Minn., said some of the photographs were taken in his fraternity at Alpha Tau Omega.

“Lots of people said they posed for Playboy. Lots of them said they were going to be in it,” he said. “Lots of my friends, lots of my fraternity brothers, including myself, were in photo shoots. . . . It was kind of a neat experience.”

Jacob Wener, 20, a KU junior from St. Louis Park, Minn., bought one of the early copies.

“I come from Minnesota,” Wener said. “And the only other girl who comes from my class is supposed to be in it. I want to see if she is. . . . It’s been kind of weird up in Minnesota. Parents and everyone have been talking about it.”