I have two maple HG cushion cleared tamas and they definitely have their grip still (one super seshed and the other honing in), no slick.
I've got 3 cushioned HG maple striped tamas. My maple Purple Heart and maple walnut(honed to the bone) are both very slick for being cushioned. But then I have a cushioned maple zebrano stripe HG that's my profile pic and it's super tacky. I really think it depends on how thick of a layer is on it.
I bought a sweets pro mod back when they were cushion, and a pride-dama. The cushion on the former is super thick and hasnt changed very much throughout its 6 months. however the pride dama's cushion had started to peel after my first or second sesh. There definitely is a difference in each batch put out. Who knows it might just be a different person who finished that given model. I'm betting Sweets kendamas has several painters at any given time. They put out a lot of product.
The other consideration is the pride was a collaboration with MPLS. Their paint could have dried well enough to not allow the cushion to deep into the tama: just a thought. I have seen pics of prides with just slight remnants of the rainbow and mostly white.