THE FUN OF FIGURAL CONNECTORS!

Almost every laser cut puzzle, and a good many hand cuts as well, include whimsey pieces. These are recognizable shapes that typically follow the theme of the image. For most avid enthusiasts, they are a major attraction of wood vs cardboard. I love them too.

Some laser cut companies go a step further and make recognizable shapes for their connectors. I call these figural connectors and I find them a blast to do. Unfortunately, they are rather rare. Davici is especially creative with figural connectors and sadly, they are no longer available in most places since they are a Russian company. I would hope that some of the new laser cut companies coming into the market would consider taking up this design feature. I am sure it is tricky and difficult but I think that the appeal would greatly boost a brand advertising such a feature.

In numerous Davici puzzles, figural connectors have followed the theme and so, for example, a Halloween image will have bats, witches hats, candles, etc to connect the pieces. In addition, there are plenty of related whimsey pieces. And as the photo below shows, they even get tricky with the cuts of these connectors as illustrated with the cat head profile-some are left facing and some right. Plus, the connectors are made just slightly different so that the same image does not fit every similar opening. I can’t imagine how they do this-it seems like a major feat of engineering!

I have a very short attention span these days and am easily bored. Whimsey pieces and figural connectors keep me excited about doing puzzles.