Is playing games where you pay money, and if you win you get tickets with which you can buy toys whose value is less than what you paid, considered gambling (Maysir)?

The game mentioned in the question is impermissible and considered prohibited gambling, because gambling is the act of taking a person's money with the risk of whether they will receive compensation or not. This description applies to the scenario presented. Whether what the winner takes is less than, more than, or equal to what they paid, it does not cease to be prohibited maysir (gambling), in accordance with the Almighty's saying: "O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing to] stone altars for idols, and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful." Any transaction in which one cannot avoid either losing or winning is considered prohibited maysir, as per His saying: "Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly, but only [in lawful] trade by mutual consent."