Just an update. Last night I took and sanded the back on some of the tips, trying to determine by how they sanded if they were all hard or just some. Out of the 25 that I did, 11 seemed to sand harder than the others. I installed one of the softer ones last night, and it hits softer but not as soft as the one I originally replaced.
So I think I will need to go through all of them, and any new ones I get, and sort according to how they sand. I can use the harder ones on break cues for guys that don't want a samsara, but still want leather, or for the guys that like a harder tip.