Your parents have probably told you about things you said or did in your childhood that showed the kind of person you would eventually become. One of those things was probably your favorite toy. While not always, the toys someone likes to play with as a child can be reflective of their personality when they grow older.
There are numerous ways to use someone's toys as a storytelling device:
Showing a character playing with a toy different from their peers' preferred toys means they're unusual or special.
A child taking good care of their toys means they are caring and gentle while playing roughly with or destroying toys (beyond the standards of normal child's play) can be a sign that they're having issues at home.
A homemade toy made by a parent can serve as a point of connection between them and their child, or even an Orphan's Plot Trinket. Conversely, the parents of a Lonely Rich Kid might buy them expensive toys they don't really like, as a sign that they don't know their own child that well.
A Creepy Child is likely to have a Creepy Doll or some other scary-looking toy, preferably one that scares the daylights out of other children.
An Enfant Terrible likely mistreats their toys or plays creepy games.
A particularly imaginative, artistic, or inventive child might create their own toys from things they find lying around.
A child growing up in a militaristic culture will probably be given a pint-sized weapon as their first toy.
A child with highly religious parents might be given The Moral Substitute versions of secular toys, such as Bible action figures.
And if someone never had any toys at all, it probably means their childhood was quite sad, or that they're a serious, unimaginative, or boring person.
Can overlap with Early Personality Signs and/or A Minor Kidroduction if the character's favorite toys are shown in a flashback. Related to Never Had Toys, Abnormal Plushies, Empathy Doll Shot, Girls Love Stuffed Animals, Weapon Jr., Lonely Doll Girl, and Rubik's Cube: International Genius Symbol. Compare Character-Driven Strategy and Smart People Play Chess.
