Similar, but different

I took a few vacation days and part of my time off has been spent organizing my collection. I came across these 4 cards in a 4 slot Ultra Pro page that I had bought from an auction at a card shop sometime back. It must have been a good deal in my opinion because I'm not going after any of the sets featured and am not a particular fan of either player. If I had to guess, I probably paid about a dollar a card.

It's no secret that card companies are known for using the same phot of different cards, but these similar, but different photos.

The 1967 and 1968 Billy Williams pose are nearly identical although the background is different. I prefer the batting cage in the background of the 1967 card.

The 1968 and 1969 Jim Hunter cards are very similar as well. Again, the backgrounds appear to be a little different and his head is turned a bit, but they are very similar. I guess I prefer the 1969 card because you can see the free Athletics jersey in that shot.

What was Topps thinking? Did they realize how similar the photos were to each other? Probably not. I would suspect that the same person picked the photos used on the cards and since the liked the photo once, they liked it again the next year without realizing that it was so similar to the picture used the year before.

What do you think? Are there any books out there written by Topps employees that would provide any insight into the process? If so, I'd love to read it.