I'll rant right along with you! I only see F & P magazine wrapped in plastic here in Sioux Falls, SD but if I can't see the patterns, I won't buy the magazine. 99.9% of my quilt patterns are from purchased patterns or books - the magazines are mostly marketing tools for specific lines of fabrics anyway (in my opinion)so I'd only buy a magazine if there was a great pattern I "SAW" in the magazine while thumbing through it. Paper printed media such as newspapers and magazines are virtually archaic anyway - soon there will be none. Cooking magazines are discontinuing, too, I've noticed. Anyway, it's too bad that they're sealed in plastic - if you take it to a clerk, they SHOULD open it for you so you can look.