For 30 years, Wild Bill’s Nostalgia Center has lured collectors to the fringes of Middletown, Connecticut, where owner Bill Ziegler hawks a mishmash of pop culture action figures, bobble heads, trading cards, movie props, taxidermy, letterpress posters, and funky antiques. Picture early-’90s Spencer’s Gifts meets whatever was in Jerry Garcia’s attic and you’re getting warmer. The 45-acre compound is worth a wander even if you’re not thrifting, thanks to its gravity-defying cars, vine-clad hippie murals, jumbo jack-in-the-box (reportedly the largest in the world), and the sort of creepy carnival leftovers Rob Zombie might appreciate. Word is, Ziegler hopes to finance the completion of his retro Laff in the Dark funhouse and pretzel dark ride through the sales from a forthcoming book-and-record store. Whether that will ever happen remains to be seen.

1003 Newfield St., Middletown, CT; 860-635-1226.