I wanted to make a post as well as me, a regular member.
Not a moderator, not Bitcointalk staff, just me. A dude that has been buying coins since 2013.
I've tried to structure my thoughts as much as I can.
In the
original topic, KazKaz27 was selling ready-to-go private keys on double sided sheets, that would be delivered
sandwiched between cardboard and marked with hologram seals.
There are no pictures of the actual backside, so it is unclear to me if the sheets came with
holograms pre-applied over the private keys. I checked the first 39 posts and they only mentions tamper-proof holograms related to shipping:
On the front of the sheets are the QR codes which leads to the public addresses, on the back is the corresponding private key.
(I thought an avid collector may like them as a display piece or educational piece, although they can be used and are not compromised in any way currently, they will be sent sealed in a tamper evident manner so they are secured until seal is broken. .)
They are directly from me, a trusted source of key generation. Keys would be tamper evident sealed assuring they are not revealed during the shipping process. The moment one decided to actually open the seal and use the keys they are no longer just VIP Keys, they are VIP keys owned by whoever, which makes them responsible over them.
7. **Mitigation of Risks**: The seller has taken proactive steps to mitigate potential risks by implementing measures such as tamper-evident packaging and clear communication about the keys’ limitations. This demonstrates a commitment to ethical practices and consumer safety, further legitimizing the sale.
A month after the
last post, Kazkaz27 mentions the private keys being protected by a tamper-proof hologram, which is the first mention of it, as far as I can tell:
Not much, actually. The first image displays a complete sheet (255 addresses) containing both public and private addresses, all safeguarded by tamper-evident holographic stickers. In contrast, the second image focuses on just one public and one private key, also protected by tamper-evident holographic stickers, though on a smaller scale.
If the holograms are applied now, they are just like any other pre-assembled private key. Would probably suggest anyone buying them for their own products to put another hologram over it, so it would be clear who rugged (so both parties are protected). Then again, from what I gather, this isn't their
intended purpose, so all good.
If people are meant to just have fun with it, then it doesn't matter if they have a hologram. Then again, I would just make my own keys (getting the holograms seems a useful part of the service).

Whilst I do moderate the section, I don't read everything and this one somewhat fell through the cracks (read the OP, decided it wasn't for me and moved on). If I stepped in sooner, maybe we could have resolved it quicker, maybe not. Security is a pretty serious thing, especially after we all got rugged by Yogg (who I did consider a trusted person, until they weren't), lost a decent amount during that debacle.
TLDR: to me it feels like everything went a tad crazy due to being unsure how the private keys were actually secured. It reads like they weren't initially and then added later, which is fine, but if that was done from the start (or just mentioned), the amount of discussion could've been a lot lower. Now it became a Storm in a glass, amplified by lots of other people.
Anyway, I yapped enough as is, so I'll shut up now.
Side-note: I know you gave Polymerbit sheets that should have holograms on them and I did ask Polymerbit about the sheets specifically, but they are unwilling to give me their opinion until they are able to review the sheets later this year, so not much I can add/say based on that.