If you buy a coin from the Mint is it MS - 70

That depends on your perspective I guess. In order to say they have gotten better you would have to compare them doing things the same way today and the way they did them years ago, with the results being better today. But that's not the case. They have totally and completely done away with the way they used to do things and instituted entirely new procedures. And yes, that has resulted in a better product in the end - when you are talking about Mint Sets and Proof Sets.

But the Proof ASE's from 1986 (year 1 of the series) are every bit as good of quality as the Proof ASE's of today. With ASE's they haven't changed one bit because their manufacturing methods have remained exactly the same.