My view is that ToB is one of the later books that came out in 3.5's life, so removing it from the discussion is actually stepping backward and less original than using it.
However, in my firm belief that one shouldn't post in a thread without contributing according to its topic, I do have a few things I enjoy:
I played a straight fighter archer whose attack bonus was absurd. The trick with these archers is to focus on precision, not damage. I only did 1d8+7 or something, but I NEVER missed even after taking massive penalties for called shots (There are no official rules for called shots that I know of, my DM let me take -8 for some targets and -12 for very small targets). So I shot out people's eyes. Blindness is a devastating status effect. Concealment wasn't an issue thanks to Woodland Archer, so my weakness was things with regeneration and things with no eyes. Against things with no eyes I just did all my damage and stayed back (My damage was actually fine) and against things with regeneration I used my teleportation arrows to move them away from me and usually many feet into the air. There are other uses for precision than houseruled called shots, and you can find some of them in the archer thread on this same board.
I also enjoy basic hulk characters. If you can find the means to possess disgusting stats, you'll probably do fine. I always remember the joys of enormous strength. Oh sure it doesn't sound that useful, but beating people to death is underrated. If they don't have Freedom of Movement, grapple them and laugh a lot in their ear as you mutilate them. My finest hulk had 35 or so AC, +14-22 initiative, +38 grapple, and something like +32 attack at level 10 (he didn't play beyond that). I'm sure the fine min-maxers of this site can beat him at every number, but that doesn't mean their numbers will be necessary at that level. He was many things (because I've built the concept many times) but it's just focusing on building your basics up. I've done it with fighters and with monks and meldshapers and ToB. It's fun to play the Hulk and to be able to do it all day without running out of spells or power points (Although I've definitely used those. I love the War Mind).
Neither of these require ToB. Sorry I didn't lay out the builds, but the truth is the can be accomplished by many means, are flexible concepts, and are fun to play.
It's worth noting that both concepts can be improved with ToB, and that I hadn't found this site when I made my latest version of either build. The Archer would gain things like the Splitting Enhancement now and the hulk would probably employ stances and maneuvers (I'm thinking the Setting Sun throws would do nicely and Iron Heart Surge would make him even more annoying)