I'm not sure if that's necessarily a trend. There can be good batches and bad batches, since these varieties are sourced from many different growers. It's even possible to have a good year and a bad year, due to weather. In wine, people talk about good vintages and bad ones, so the same can exist in other fruit.

The first time I tried Honeycrisps, I didn't like them and avoided them for years. Then I tried again and got much better ones.

I first bought Cosmic Crisp in a local grocery store, and they were great. Then I bought them directly form an orchard in the part of the state where they are grown (about 100 miles from here), and they were totally bland and thoroughly unimpressive. Now I'm back to buying them in grocery stores, and those are fine.