do you think the 'average joe' (which I am) can really tell a difference between the old glass versions of these vs the new plastic versions if indeed there is a difference?
ClubmanRob had a good series of posts back in the day talking about the various changes to Old Spice, and to the effect of plastic on aftershaves and colognes in general. The following is a synopsis of stuff he posted mixed with my take on things.
The short version is that OS changed even while it was made by Shulton, once when saccharin was getting bad press in the 70's, IIRC. P&G maintains that they are using the original formula, and even if the properties or proportions have been altered I'm sure they believe they are technically correct. Little things we view as a big deal are probably insignificant to P&G.
Rob believed that any move from glass to plastic in pretty much mandated slight changes to formulation due to regulations, and to complicate things further, the stuff in colognes and Aftershaves will change over time depending on what material they are stored in, and they also react to temperature and light exposure.
When mixed with the subjective nature of sense of smell, body chemistry, foggy memories and the power of suggestion, it makes it pretty hard to say with any authority that the Shulton scent as it existed in 1950 is even on the planet anymore...but there are several folks, including yours truly, who claim that they can detect a difference between vintage and current OS, and that the difference is greater in the AS than the cologne.
With the AV, not so much. For one thing, I think the AV scent is a simpler one, and the makers also say, as did P&G, that nothing changed other than the container. Since the move was so recent, only time will tell if AV stored in plastic will keep like it did in glass.
Well, that was a long winded post that didn't answer your question. Asking shaving obsessed trivia nabobs to think like "Average Joes" is probably too big a stretch.
All I can say to that is, I think with OS, I can tell a difference, with AV, no.
I suspect nostalgia is a big factor here.