I'm not 100% sure but I think so. I too often wondered about this myself.Seems chip collectors prefer them whole but this would be a great subject to ask someone who is in a matchbook club.But I think one of the biggest reasons is so they can fly to other places with there matchbooks and you can better display the artwork on them on pages in a book nice and flat.I kind of think they aren't too concerned about the matches as much as the book and it's pictures and writing and of course the subject matter.Torrey