Finally this thread exists! Started collecting some N64 stuff earlier this year mainly because I started getting into speedrunning and the PAL versions are no good for that so I bought myself a Japanese N64 on Ebay, plugged in the cables from my old PAL N64 and it worked like a charm.
My holy trinity, the best 3 games I've ever played:
I have my N64 + CRT TV that handles NTSC somewhat decent set up on a table that I can drag around when I'm not using it. I say somewhat decent because the colors look a bit strange(like really strong/intense) but I'm sure could be fixed if I could find the TV remote and change the color mode/settings. At least I get a good picture, my old 14" TV did colors and all good but it was so small to play on and my other 22" TV didn't support NTSC very good so the picture was black and white. Of course my big LCD does NTSC but the input lag is too much for me to speedrun on. Old games belong on old TVs!
Hori Mini Pad controller for life, they are maybe a bit too small if you have big hands(like me) but anything beats the original N64 controller. Pretty hard(and expensive) to come by original controllers that still have decent sticks. Hori Mini Pads a pretty expensive on Ebay too, was lucky enough to grab mine off Ebay Germany for about $40 which is a good price. Been trying to get another Hori controller in good condition that matches my console's color but they go for $70-80 on Ebay and most of them have discolored analog sticks that look yellow and gross
EDIT: Of course I got a PAL N64 as well but it's in a box in the basement together with most of the "essential" N64 games like OoT, MM, SSB, SM64 and so on.