Reddit reviews Nintendo 64 Controller - Original Grey

Nah dude the buttons are on the wrong side. Lol.
https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-64-Controller-Original-Grey/dp/B000PJHAD6#immersive-view_1519369261277

2 MAJOR things: invest on a stick, like, for real. It REALLY helps your practice man. You have no idea how different the game feels when trying to adjust to a different controller. http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-64-Controller-Original-Grey/dp/B000PJHAD6 It isn't even that expensive, REALLY worth it. You can get a sick Mayflash with it so that you can plug it in for online play :)
Second thing is... don't forget to sign up! The deadline is really soon. Good luck lad :D

OK. Not sure why people feel the need to reply to this if uninterested.

For reference:
Cheapest amazon N64 - $35 with no cables. Cheapest with cables is $45

Most controllers seem to be going for about $10-15 each, and I have 3

Cheapest used Super Smash Bros. - $53

Cheapest used Super Mario 64 - $28

Cheapest used Mario Kart 64 - $48

Cheapest used NFL Blitz - $13

Total cost: $207 + Shipping and handling to get the cheapest cost without factoring in condition.

Trying to document my project pretty well so that someone can follow without much prior knowledge or searching (pics and instructions to come later), but I do have more questions about your project.....

I took apart a OEM Nintendo64 controller and an 8bitdo RB8 controller, and purchased a gamecube joystick for n64. The joystick will need to be torn apart and almost entirely de-soldered down to just the potentiometers (per our PM chat, thanks for that); A few mods to the n64 controller housing to make space for the battery and USB port.

I found that the n64 L/R/Z keymats don't fit the 8bitdo L/R/Z boards well at all; L could be jammed in, but R refused to sit well and Z just is a totally different shape. Did you use the 8bitdo L/R/Z boards or did you replace those with the n64 boards?
Disclaimer: I am not an EE, nor do I have much "maker" experience, but I do understand very basic circuitry. It looks like these L/R/Z boards are just exactly simple wires, so I should be able to desolder the wire leads from the 8bitdo mainboard and the n64 mainboard to swap them out. Really, the trick is to get the battery and bluetooth mainboard from the 8bitdo into the Nintendo housing, with the gamecube joystick.

Once I have that working, and before I put it all back together, I want to take apart one of the Nintendo joysticks (with the light sensor) just to see if I can remove all the extra chips and wire the light sensors up to the 8bitdo mainboard. I don't think it will work, but its an experiment worth doing right?

Here is an original controller: $130

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-64-Controller-Original-Gray/dp/B000PJHAD6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1313910867&sr=8-3

Can you tell me where you're getting 300$ from? I did a quick search and I see this:

Option 1

And this:

Option 2

I assume you mean brand new out of package original nintendo... but I can't even find a listing for that.