besides the obvious what was your favourite toy as a boy?

[Papillon]

just out of interest as I am compiling a "treasure basket" for ds

Hmm depends upon age
I think my earliest favourite was a fluffy bunny with wire in it's ears so you could shape them, it would probably spark a Trading Standards media recall nowadays
Then, later, my trike, then my roller skates
and after that the soapbox racer go-cart my dad made

Scalextric and Action Man.

Ah, HD Action Man,
friends and I would line them up in trenches in the garden and throw mud bombs at them, funny they never lasted long. Scalex was my dads

Me and my brother used to play flying action man, chucking them over the washing line and seeing which one's limbs came off first!

They were always busy chatting up Barbie from next door, anyway.

I had a big (and I mean biigggg) plastic hammer called A Wicky Wacky Sock-it To Me Toot Toot Tapper" which I used to hit visitors with. Loved that hammer.
Bestest thing I never had but my best friend did have was Crossfire. Anyone remember that?
The PC brigade got it discontinued because of the ballbearings (or so I was told)

The PC brigade? What's the PC brigade got to do with it?

Striker and Test Match (where the bat looked like a vaccuum cleaner)

Dh and his brother had "Zorro" swords with pieces of chalk in the ends - so you could do the "swish, swish, swish" thing and make a "Z" on your opponent.