Thick, printable labels suitable for use in a thermal transfer printer

A thick, compressible, multilayer label media of greater than 300 microns in thickness that is printable in a thermal transfer (THT) printer designed to process label media no thicker than 300 microns, each label of the label media comprising:

• A. A printable, polymeric film having first and second opposing facial surfaces and a thickness of at least about 100 microns;
• B. A first adhesive having first and second opposing facial surfaces and having a thickness of between about 10 and about 100 microns, the first facial surface of the adhesive in intimate contact with the second facial surface of the film;
• and
• C. Foam having first and second opposing facial surfaces and a thickness greater than the thickness of either the film or first adhesive layer, the first facial surface of the foam in intimate contact with the second facial surface of the first adhesive;
• the label media comprising a plurality of labels arranged on a carrier strip with a space between adjacent labels such that
• 1) the label media can be continuously fed through and printed in the thermal transfer (THT) printer comprising a print head, transfer ribbon and platen roller forming a printing station within the THT printer at which an image is transferred to a label with a printing surface from the transfer ribbon and print head, by compression of the label by the platen roller against the transfer ribbon and the print head;
• and
• the platen roller does not lose positive frictional engagement with the carrier strip and the print head does not lose contact with the printing surface of at least one of said adjacent labels as one label leaves the printing station and another label enters the printing station.