In the days before the internet, there wasn't any choice but to go back to the same videos/pics. And even if you knew the names of the actors in a vid, you didn't necessarily know which was which, in case you wanted to find other vids with the guy that turned you on. Choice was all the more limited because vids and magazines were expensive. (And it was a drag renting a vid, only to get home and find that the hot guy on the box only had a murky, grainy solo; or worse, getting home and finding that the vid is a compilation and that the one scene with the hot guy is again that damn murky solo you saw previously in a different title.)
You really had the feeling you couldn't get enough of some guys like Jeff Hammond or Kris Lord. And you'd wonder why, when some did so few, they had to be paired with such ugly guys. Today's porn-stars may be overexposed but at least if they are paired with someone ugly, there's the chance you'll see him with someone better next week.