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By Jill Nagy
Fans of the television series “X-Files” can get their shot of nostalgia and mementos to take home at the X-Files Preservation Collection and Collectibles in Wilton.
The combination shop and museum opened on April 30 with visits from Chris Carter, creator of the drama series, and Keith Arbuthnot, an actor who played monsters on the show, as well as fans from around the world, according to Jim Thornton, one of the owners of the collection.
Visitors can view a collection of props and costumes actually used in filming episodes of the series, some of them contributed by Carter. Thornton and his wife and business partner, Kelly Anthony, began collecting X-Files memorabilia in the 1990s.
“I loved the show and thought: Wow, I’d like to own something from it,” Thornton recalled. By 2019, the couple had accumulated enough items to fill a moving truck and they drove it to X-Fest, an X-Files convention in Chicago.
Thornton thinks that someone who saw their display in Chicago must have contacted Carter and told him about it. Shortly afterward, Carter “found us” and donated a few things, he said. From there, “it progressed and grew bigger and bigger.”
The outlet in Wilton, at 4284 Route 50, features a showroom where, for an admission charge, visitors can see props, set dressings, and costumes, all of which previously appeared on screen, as well as DVDs of old shows, and vintage video and pinball games.
The fees are used to help preserve the collection, Thornton said. There is no admission fee for the shop, which offers merchandise related to the X-Files and other TV shows and movies, a pop culture collection reflecting horror movies and similar artifacts.
The collection and shop are open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The telephone number is 518 886-9434.