I remember some of the discussions around the time, but I can't remember any concrete predictions. Mostly it was moping about the "Bore 7" ("Core 7", G3 equivalent of Mane 6) and how much most people hated the G3.5 design. To me G4 was a bit of a surprise. I couldn't figure out, when I first saw the toys, why Princess Celestia was larger than the other ponies! I liked the show, but took a while to warm to the new body style for the toys.