I've been trying to draw interest in playing a format where you can only use cards printed before the new frame (reprints with the new frame would be legal). The argument that I always get is that it would never change since the card pool would always be the same but I think it would still be a lot of fun.
If I remember correctly some people played this format in Sweden and called it pre-Modern.
A challenge as you say is that the card pool does not change, but one can at least control the format via restrictions and bannings. One option is also to start with a few blocks and then as time goes by allow more and more blocks (still need to have the old frame of course).