Thanks for the mountain of feedback on the Retron (controller), everyone!
The Retron is very cool for imports. I never personally had an issues with the NES connector in the system, but I have read online how people had problems with the connectors coming loose. Maybe it was luck or a newer revision or just that I don't abuse my stuff. But it wasn't an issue for me.
Controller sucks, but console is solid IMO. It even has little rubber caps that you plug into the controller ports so they don't suck up dirt. Oh, and Game Boy carts work like a charm!