Does anyone know where you can buy replacement controllers for the Atari 5200? I know those controllers were a piece of **** but i would like to dust that system off and play it again eventhough its old.

A little expensive, but there are re-built ones here:
http://www.atari2600.com/catalog/Gam...%20Controllers

Or buy the repair kit and fix your old ones:
http://www.atari2600.com/catalog/Gam...#Repair%20Kits

I got a couple 2600 joysticks off of ebay. I ended up paying around $10 for the two. Not the greatest price, but certianly better than any place that I could find that was selling them. The market seems to be saturated with third-party controllers for Atari systems. If you don't mind that they aren't the real thing, you can get them for even cheaper (I wanted hte real thing, hence the price I paid).

On a side note, WD-40 in the pot of a 2600 paddle followed by a few twists of the paddle can make it run better than new (no wiggle!)

I'd pay the $49.95 per Atari 5200 controller, however it states that they are new in box. Come on. That can't be true. Can it?

Why not? I picked up a 7800 controller new in the box. They are out there if you look hard enough. I found mine at a thrift store. I also found a 5200 with working controllers, but I'm not giving them up.

haha, the 5200 rocked! until it fell apart. never shoulda sold it. games were overpriced. some of the bugs were pretty cool. good luck getting controllers.

-skprd

The Atari 5200 FAQ might help you to either find the name of replacements to look for, how to repair the ones you have, or how to build your own 5200/2600 adaptor.

Atari 5200 FAQ