Abstract: A rotary placer for picking, transferring and placing a carton from a stack of cartons or sleeves in a magazine to an assembly position. The rotary placer includes a frame driven for rotation about a first axis and supporting an arm having an inner end and an outer end. The outer end of the arm has vacuum cups for engaging and releasably retaining a carton for movement from the pick position to the place position. The arm is reciprocated from an extended position to a retracted position. The vacuum cups engage a carton when the arm is in the extended position and the arm retracts to remove the carton from the magazine and carry it toward the place position. The arm again is extended as it reaches the place position. A cam guide controls the movement of the vacuum cups so they move linearly away from a carton in the magazine.