Even though you start off with "the numbers are similar", once you throw in the fact that BOTH the coverstocks and the core designs are different, I think you are "grasping at straws" to conclude they will be similar in reaction. You might as well throw in the "facts" that both are round and have holes as further proof that they will react similarly.
Granted there always be someone who throws them both once, and cannot or does not the difference and will think he got "screwed" again, and for some people, they may very well be similar enough not to spend the extra $30 on the newer ball. You pay your money and you take your chances.
"None are so blind as those who will not see."