Two things:
First, personally having a creative bent expressed primarily in poetry and songwriting, I believe Zachowski, the designer, is simply saying what Solomon said in Ecclessiastes, "There's nothing new under the sun." It also reminded me of a song from the '70s entitled "Art Beware" by Ambrosia, and the opening lyric is:
Art beware. its all been done
There's nothing new under the sun
What a waste of my time
So take heed of all new schemes
Just variations on old themes
I take it to mean we can design using ideas from other creative efforts, but there will always be vestiges of an artistic influence or a previous presentation.
Secondly, in my perspective Topps has shown more of a close-to-the-vest approach in designing products. I believe they were slow in catching up to the standard raised by Upper Deck in 1989 with the card stock, glossy finish, and candid photography. Then we get Skybox Basketball with its geometrically colorful designs and Topps probably has ventured in that direction with inserts such as the New Age from the Heritage sets, but generally speaking they're more conservative in their approach. And I will add they're still around so maybe their business strategy is more in line with the market than say a Donruss/Panini when it comes to collectors.
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“Aslan didn't tell Pole what would happen. He only told her what to do. That fellow will be the death of us once he's up, I shouldn't wonder. But that doesn't let us off following the signs.” - Puddleglum in The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis
