I was like a thirsty man in a desert. Hadn’t reviewed any product for some time, but the recent release of Panini’s Prestige football cards has brought me back.

There are eight cards to a pack and 24 packs to a box. Suggested retail price is in the $4 range. Each box promises at least four memorabilia or autograph cards, and at least one rookie card per pack.

The design for the base cards is a vertical layout on the card front, with a color photo taking up two-thirds of the right-hand side of the card. The left side contains the player’s name and the team he plays for (the team name is backed by a gray bar). Turn the card sideways to see both. Extra Points parallels come in gold, red, purple, green and black colors.

The rookie card front sports a horizontal layout, with the player’s image taking up the left side of the card. The term “Rookie” and the player’s name are below the player’s image and it is not necessary to turn the card to read it.
The box I sampled had 146 base cards out of 200, and 26 out of 100 rookie cards.

The rookies I pulled included Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Bucs draftees Gerald McCoy, Jevan Snead and Mike Williams. And Ndamukong Suh, too.

This set offers 12 different insert sets to chase, including League Leaders, True Colors, NFL Draft Class, Rookie Review, Touchdown Sensations, Stars of the NFL, Connections (a team’s quarterback and a favorite receiver) and Prestigious Pros.

There were two autographs in the box I sampled. One was an on-card auto signed by Bucs second-round draft pick Arrelious Benn (wide receiver from Illinois), although the card gives no draft information and doesn’t even mention the Bucs. The second one (on a sticker) is a Rookie Draft Picks card of tight end Anthony McCoy, who was picked by the Eagles.

There were two game-used cards, too. One was a Touchdown Sensations card of Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The uniform swatch is shaped in Fitzgerald’s No. 11.

The second game-used card was a cool quad swatch of NFL receivers — the League Leaders insert featured jersey pieces of Vernon Davis, Fitzgerald, Randy Moss and Miles Austin.

So what do I think? Well, the base set is all right but not overwhelming. The design is simple and not too cluttered. The sizzle cards are adequate. The rookie cards are excellent.

These cards may not quench your thirst entirely, but it’s a good start.