I made my first purchase too. A couple years back I purchased a 4-port with 36 games and 6 controllers from a lady on Craigslist for $40. She had no idea what she had, she just wanted to get rid of it. Since then I've purchased a 2-port which I like much better, and it came with 2 controllers. Then I bought 2 more controllers locally--which were mis-advertised as having been rebuilt with gold parts. They weren't--they were terrible controllers.
I sent 9 controllers (I kept the only one I had working) to Best Electronics and got a nice credit. No sense hoarding non-functional controllers when they can be refurbished for the rest of y'all to enjoy! I Bought 2 gold-plated contact rebuilt controllers and a vinyl 5200 system cover. They came on Friday and I've been playing with them--and in absolute awe about how good they are. These are the controllers I remember as a kid!
Now I have to teach myself how to play the games again, since the slightest movements are now detected! No more extreme controller movements and literally SMASHING the buttons!!
Next up--get the 2-port modded for composite output and ditch the RF cable. :-)