Standard Edition (SE) items have no limit on the number of copies that can be created and sold. They are serialized and distributed randomly. Standard Edition items may be 'vaulted' to end a print run, and no further copies will be created.
Limited Edition (LE) items have a fixed, predetermined number that will be created and sold. Each copy is also serialized and distributed randomly. The size of a Limited Edition run will be announced and items will be labeled accordingly, i.e. a #5/1000 or #647/1000.
SE items are printed in batches and print numbers are randomly distributed in batches. For example, the first 1000 copies sold get a random number between 1 and 1000, the next thousand get 1001-2000, etc. LE items are printed all at once and print numbers are also distributed randomly.
Collector’s Edition (CE) items are usually rarer than LE items both in terms of mint counts and type of content. CE items also have a fixed, predetermined number that will be created and sold. Each copy is also serialized and distributed randomly. The size of a Limited Edition run will be announced and items will be labeled accordingly, i.e. a #5/150 or #60/100.