Portrayal Press: Jeep Publications

Another catalog in the mail. Claims to be "the largest selection of books about the Jeep ever presented".

The publisher is Portrayal Press, and in case it's of interest to anybody here are some of the highlight pages:

View attachment Jeep Catalog I.pdf View attachment Jeep Catalog II.pdf


View attachment Jeep Catalog III.pdf View attachment Jeep Catalog IV.pdf

I thought Portrayal was the company that closed up... or was that a different one?

I got that catalog as well. A few of the books caught my eye, but when I went to their website most prices were higher than listed in the catalog. The few books I liked are cheaper elsewhere. The fact that their brand new Jeep book catalog didn't even get prices right turned me off, and I even looked the day I got the portrayal catalog in the mail.

Portrayal Press was sold and the new owner is a member of MTA. He's had booths at Sussex and (I believe) Gilbert. Very nice guy. I think they're now in Branchville, a few miles from the Sussex Fairgrounds.

Steve

New owners were at the MVPA convention in Louisville also.

sigo said:

I went to their website most prices were higher than listed in the catalog. The few books I liked are cheaper elsewhere.

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Greetings.

Thank you for the feedback and we are sorry you were turned off by our catalog. That was certainly not the intention.

The prices in the catalog are "correct" and we will be happy to honor them. In the meantime, we will be reviewing the website to make sure the two match.

As for pricing versus other sources, we have a very large collection of jeep related books and priced them based on what we have seen in the market - Ebay, Amazon, etc. Some of the books are out-of-print and typically sell on Ebay for more than we have them listed.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Regards, Patrick Tipton/Portrayal Press

Welcome to you, Pittsjock, from down here in Virginia.

Thanks Ahab - most appreciated! I have not been on this forum too much - lots to do with Portrayal and trying to fix a couple of vehicles. The Mule is finished (pictured) - a 1943 MB is in the shop down to the frame.

Regards, Patrick

Pittsjock said:

Thanks Ahab - most appreciated! I have not been on this forum too much - lots to do with Portrayal and trying to fix a couple of vehicles. The Mule is finished (pictured) - a 1943 MB is in the shop down to the frame.

Regards, Patrick


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Always a fan of The Mule: it's simplicity defined!

Never noticed before though, the wheel hubs:

- Do those things dog down with a twist of the cam, just like a bulkhead door (i.e., no tools needed to loosen and tighten)?

No, they don't. They just spin and spin. Held on via a pin.

emmado22 said:

No, they don't. They just spin and spin. Held on via a pin.

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Got it. Thank you. So what's that lever on each hub all about?

Sling loading the Mule mainly, but they work great for tying down the mule to a trailer.

Got it!




And now, back to the OP...

Patrick, Welcome and thanks for responding. I certainly respect a dealer that addresses complaints in an online forum. You sure didn't have to. I don't mind paying a little extra for quality customer service. I hope you intend to be regular visitor to steelsoldiers.

Thank you Sigo.

I will make it a point to be a more regular visitor. I am knee deep into a 1943 Willys MB restoration - currently welding on new frame horns and repairing the rear cross member. I will try to get some pictures posted soon.

Regards, Patrick

Pittsjock said:

I will make it a point to be a more regular visitor. I am knee deep into a 1943 Willys MB restoration - currently welding on new frame horns and repairing the rear cross member. I will try to get some pictures posted soon.

Regards, Patrick

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1943 Willys MB. This one was headed for the scrapyard. This frame is from another jeep. It had been fitted with a massive front bumper/plow setup. I cut the bumper off, repaired the rusted out areas of the cross member and am in the process of welding new frame horns on.

I still have a bit of cleanup work on the right side before I tack the new horn in place. Once both sides are on, I will bolt the front bumper in place and then finish weld both sides.

I made a little jig for alignment. You can barely see it in the second picture. I will post better "in use" pictures when I go to tack weld the right side frame horn. Works great.

Patrick

SteveKuhn said:

Portrayal Press was sold and the new owner is a member of MTA. He's had booths at Sussex and (I believe) Gilbert. Very nice guy. I think they're now in Branchville, a few miles from the Sussex Fairgrounds.

Steve

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Steve
He had better be a nice guy, he has some very big shoes to fill. Dennis, the old owner of Portrayal Press was a great guy. I have a book shelve full of his books I used to buy back in the 1980s while I was stationed in New Jersey. Most of the books I bought from him are now out of print. Great guy.
Patrick
Welcome, and good luck with Portrayal Press. With your books we can keep this hobby alive for the next generation.
One of the few, Frank USMC RET.

Pittsjock said:

Thanks Ahab - most appreciated! I have not been on this forum too much - lots to do with Portrayal and trying to fix a couple of vehicles. The Mule is finished (pictured) - a 1943 MB is in the shop down to the frame.

Regards, Patrick






View attachment 526356

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Another Ahab said:

Always a fan of The Mule: it's simplicity defined!

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The Mule would suit me to a "T" for a personal MV, everything I'd need. So sweet and right fine.

But I'm stinging still from diving a little deep, and that $8K sticker makes me shy.

Even at half of that, it's kind of pricey. Sort of wish somebody would go back to manufacturing them off the same specs, to flatten the cost.

But then, of course, it's no longer The Mule. Nothing's ever easy, is it?! But love The Mule.

I am a huge fan of the Mule. Great design and it is super useful to have around. We got a pretty good deal on ours, but it needed a decent amount of work from sitting for a long time. They are not cheap, but then again, people are spending $15k on Gators and the like. Even at $7k, they are a pretty good deal.

If anyone wants a download of the Jeep Catalog, it is available in PDF form here: http://www.portrayalpress.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CAT-9-2014

You have to add it to a shopping cart and go through the checkout process (no credit card) and then will be sent a link to download. Printed copies are also available for free - send an email to sales@portrayal.com with coordinates and we will get one out to you.

Patrick