The companies that made scooters scoot off store shelves last year now have reinvented the pogo stick.

        Among them, Razor USA is distributing Airgo, a bouncing cylinder for 60-to-220-pound kids, with an adjustable air pump. It folds to backpack size.

        “It's supposed to be the hot item this year,” says Patrick Syck, supervisor at Toys R Us, Springdale. “Several different manufacturers are coming out with them.

        “It sounds pretty cool,” says Brian Daly, co-manager at King Arthur's Court, Oakley. But that's no guarantee it will be popular with the target market — boys and girls 8 and older. “Pogo sticks don't have quite the same appeal that scooters do.

        “The scooter had such a big impact because it became a kind of fad . . . I'm not sure they'll have the same impact reinventing the pogo stick.”

        In the scooter's hey-day, “huge sales were driven just by virtue of it being a had-to-have toy,”Mr. Daly said. “A pogo stick is nice, but it's not a have-to-have.”

        Mr. Syck says standard pogo sticks have been dependably popular at Toys R Us through Christmas buying seasons. The folding models with air pressure are likely to extend the target market (now 7-14) into the mid-20s, “depending on size.”

        Much of Airgo's success will depend on pricing. Razor, in Cerritos, Calif., says Airgo will sell for about $80, by Sept. 1 in some stores.

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