Oh, I think they're wrapped in plastic to keep you from flipping through them. It's kind of the "grab bag" approach to marketing. What bugs the heck out of me is that the ones I receive at home are wrapped in plastic too, and it's not recycleable. I just hate throwing that plastic away. I write to the editors of all magazines that do that and ask them not to. Maybe if everyone got on a letter-writing campaign we could get them to change their ways--or at least use recycleable plastic. How difficult can it be?