Around here, we mostly pay for (and also have friends/parents who give) quality, and always limit quantity. :)
Practically speaking: , it's lego, brio, wood blocks, Corolle dolls, hand-made doll cribs, Learning Toys play food for the play kitchen (and a Little Tikes kitchen), etc.
This means that the toddler currently has a play kitchen and basket of play food, a crib and 2 dolls, a basket of blocks and handmade wood cars that she LOVES, and a basket of 'everything else' (stuffed animals, single-use toys, etc), and a few shelves of books. C'est tout. The toys LAST, promote open-ended play, and aren't plentiful enough to create a carpet of barely-played-with toys that parents have to pick up. And because they're in toddler-sized basket (the 1-foot-square ones from Ikea), you can set a rule that is 'one basket out at a time, things go back in the basket before another one comes out', which limits clutter.
And then the outdoor toys: sandbox, sleds, skates... y'know. Canadian standards. ;)
Personally, I have NO patience with toys that break and leave clutter and get taken out and played with for 5 minutes and thrown aside. I don't like waste or clutter. This system works for us (and we live in the middle of nowhere, a 20-minute drive from the local library, so... we're not spoiled with alternate options. What we have is sufficient.).
If anyone is curious: my mother got the 1-2-3 Playmobil house/farm/train for my sister when she was 2... so 24 years ago. They look brand new, the plastic hasn't discolored one bit, and my daughter plays with those every time we go to my mom's house. They've held up to 4 kids and look brand new. THAT is why we buy quality.