After the disappointment of the previous series, the Phoenix Saga series brought a renaissance of sorts to the X-men line. This series is notable for several reasons. First, this was the first series to be assembled by a common theme. Similarly, this series was the first to be named explicitly (i.e., "The Phoenix Saga"). Unfortunately, this series also marked the end of the "short card." All prevous series had been issued on small cards with artwork depicting the figure in the package. Subsequently, figures were released on larger "generic cards" most of which had a picture of Wolverine on the top. These generic cards took up more shelf space (presumably to better catch the eye of the consumer) and were more difficult to store. The Phoenix Saga figures have the dubious distinction of having been the only series released on both the long and short cards.