I also think so if an altcoin is launched during a bear market it will likely experience a slight decline and when a bull market arrives it may have a high chance of going up.
The opportunity is there, but launching in a bear period is extremely difficult and not many projects do. If the project can survive the bear season, it has the potential to increase in price as the bull market rises to even a very strong. Vulcan Forged is an example as the OP mentioned, it has had impressive growth in 2021.