Quote Originally Posted by AdamAnt316 View Post
To me, replacing a 72-pin connector in an NES with the 72-pin connector from another NES would be akin to replacing the engine in a Chevy Vega with the exact same engine from another Chevy Vega. It may work at first (if you're lucky), but will be far too likely to break down again in the same manner before too long. As I said above, if it were a question of having something be original or having something work, I'd go with the latter every time. There's no sense in having something be completely original if it means it'll just sit on a shelf not working.
-Adam
I still remember when I went to a game store and someone brought their NES console in for repair, as a game was stuck in the system and couldn't be removed because it had a new pin connector with a death grip.

To me a replacement 3rd party connector is equivalent to replacing a cell phone or laptop battery with a cheap off brand replacement that either doesn't hold a charge as long, or tends to catch on fire or explode. Maybe there are some good quality replacements available but I have no idea how to sort them out from all the garbage ones when searching online.

I've used cleaning kits made by Gemini and after cleaning for 5-10 minutes, they work fine and usually start on the first try. Original connectors aren't usually dead even after being decades old. They require more occasional maintenance than other consoles but they're still usable.