"Let's pay Vitalik to use his name, then he can dump onto the market and kill our coin and we can make quick money" ... is what you're saying is happening lol. I really don't think him being involved is the make/break variable bruh (plus, he's VERY well off, I don't think he takes bribes or handouts to abuse his name at will. I met him in person and he's quite the humble timid guy).

We're on the same page. I don't think there's anything revolutionary about ANY of the new coins, just the way the teams are utilizing the tech, blockchain, assigning it to real world usage, etc. which I think they are indeed doing faster/better than other alts.