Phillip Segal toys cricket set, £3400 at Vectis.
Although he resumed production in 1947, his career was cut short by his early death in 1951, meaning the toys were made only for a brief period.
The models seen at auction are often fairy tale and nursery rhyme character figures which – although rudimentary – have a certain charm. They generally sell for three-figure prices (such The Old Woman in the Shoe boxed set from 1949-50 sold by Vectis in Teesside for £340 this June).
However, the set for Hey Diddle Diddle has become something of a grail item in the collecting hobby. An example in good condition but unboxed hammered for $10,000 (£7700) as part of the John Cullen Dimestore collection offered by Old Toy Soldier Auctions in Pittsburgh in July last year.
A detail of the Phillip Segal toys cricket set, £3400 at Vectis.
Segal also produced farm and zoo animals, soldiers, cowboys and Indians, footballers and cricketers.
Another highly sought-after Segal set from the Sports Series emerged in the UK during the Vectis (22.5% buyer’s premium) sale on October 28, with box marked Tulltoy (Manufactured by Phillip Segal Toys) Real Cricket in Miniature (Patent Applied For).
According to Vectis, this is “the only example of this set ever to be found, being previously unknown. For its age it is in remarkable condition.”
Dating from 1947, it comprises cricketer figures (11 fielders, two batsmen and two umpires) plus two stumps, five boundary fence sections, two metal balls and green felt cricket pitch with white stitching (approximately 3ft 4in x 19in/1.01m x 49cm). It also includes metal batting and bowling apparatuses in order to play the game.
A detail of the Phillip Segal toys cricket set, £3400 at Vectis.
The condition was described as “generally Good Plus to Excellent overall with some paint chips. Box is generally Fair with heavy water damage, but is intact apart from a tear to two corners of the lid.” The auction house said the vendor discovered the set when they moved into their home and initially brought it to Vectis for valuation four years ago.
Estimated at £3000-5000, Real Cricket in Miniature netted a £3400 hammer price, selling to a US online bidder, against another online bidder from the UK (after the commission bids were exhausted).
Back in 2011, in a stronger market, a Segal single cricket team c.1947 offered at Vectis did rather better, however, hammering at £5200 (estimate £2000-4000). In the original box, this comprised six players, an umpire and wickets and was described at the time as “the only known boxed set in existence”.
