How about a variable hardness tip, harder in the middle, more pliable at the edges or vice versa. So a cored tip similar to some of the break tips where they have a middle leather surrounded by a harder material.
Anyone have the tools to do this? By a Soft and a Hard tip, punch out the middle and fill it in with the other tip. I would bet that the playability and feel of it would be pretty good. You'd need to use something like a soft animal-based glue that does not fully harden, or just pressure to keep the leather together. If some hard super glue was used, I think that would make the hit somewhat odd when the glue was exposed.