Cowskis proposal will work in some instances. One can create so called overriding expressions which means that when a specific part shows up as a component in an assembly , the assembly forces new expression values down to the component.
But, it does have limitations, If for instance you add two of the same component, these 2 then cannot have different values since the expression name is the same in both.( for example I spoke to one user that had the vision that he should only create one screw -part, and then have the assemblies where it was used change the size of the screw. The limit is then that he can only have one screw size in total in this assembly.) The method will also extend load times since NX apart from loading files needs to change/rebuild feature trees.
On the other side of the discussion, In the real world, does these objects have different Item ID's or do they have the same no matter the shape ? Say that this deformable "thing" exists with a hole and without the hole. Do they have the same Item Name/ number / part number etc ? If They have different Item id's, I would suggest other methods.
Regards,
Tomas