Interesting replies in this thread.
People who've actually been around the sport any length of time know that some guys really did take very little compared to the mega doses even beginners get put on these days.
I recently had a friend do 200mg of masteron/week for 8 weeks. It was his second cycle and he has no interest in competing. Everyone told him he'd see zero benefit and needed to quadruple the dose and add more compounds, but instead he put 10lbs on in 8 weeks with no apparent fat/water accumulation, had no sides, no sex drive drop off, and retained about 6/7lbs even 2 months after the cycle despite being a naturally scrawny ecto.
The other thing you all seem to be forgetting is that 30/40 yrs ago natural test levels were a lot higher than they are now. It's probably reasonable speculation to suggest that whatever environmental problems are causing this might also negatively impact receptor sites. I know heavyweight guys who do everything right, take 4/5 times what I used to take when competing, and still look only like good juniors from the 1990s.