Blue skimmers?

The latest Black Lion chests have as the second guaranteed item blue skimmer pups.

Can someone from ANet please tell me when last years pups will be available. I don't want to start another collection while I still have a long ways to go on the ones from last year.

There was a black lion item that would be exchangeable for every PoF mini that has been released from Black lion Chests - including the Raptor, Jackal, Griffin and Springer.

The question will be whether the next black lion chest will have this item again. I would say it's a pretty good chance that it will come out next month.

Please keep in mind this is not the black lion statue exchange of 5 for 1 mini.

You can get the previous minis with black lion statuettes, but it's 5 statues for 1 mini so that's quite expensive unless you have a lot spare. You can also buy them from the trading post which is probably a better option. They're a bit more expensive now - according to the Wiki the basic minis (the ones which dropped directly from the chests) are all between 1g and 1g40s (using buy orders) and a complete collection will cost 300g-400g.

I recommend checking the Wiki or searching for each of the minis to see what's the cheapest way to get the ones you're missing. In general it's cheaper to buy the basic minis and dyes and make all the rest, but occasionally one of the upgraded ones (a less popular colour I assume) will be cheaper than the base 'ingredients' required to make it.

Also if you're not in a hurry to finish the collections I recommend waiting until after the chests are updated again to buy unidentified dye. The price jumped up when the new chests came out (about 5s more, per dye, which when you need hundreds of them adds up quickly) but once the skimmers aren't dropping any more the price will drop.

If I was you I'd prioritise buying skimmer minis while they're relatively cheap, then put in buy orders for the others you need (as and when you have enough gold of course) and wait for them to fill before buying dyes.

Thanks, guys!

I do have enough unidentified dyes; I have nearly a full stack. Not enough for the whole collection, but more than enough for the number I'll be buying with gems (assuming they come out next month). However, I might open up one with the skimmer just to have it available as a minipet.