Transformers Beast Wars Transmetal Mega class Optimus Primal: ... the heck is Mega class?

What do you do when your repeat visit with Transformers Generation 2 fails spectacularly? You use your new assets in the form of Kenner, tell them to go nuts, and as a result, they turn everyone into robots with biological animal bits, then robot animals with biological robots, then a fusion of the two while also deciding to throw animals together... along with implementing franchise wide improvements like ball joints, the move from Die-cast metal to plastic, size classes, having a show that isn't all about selling new toys (ok not everyone adopted that one but there have been some great shows that have), helping to pioneer 3D animation for television... basically there isn't much to mock Beast wars of. While I wait patiently for my foot to heal so that I don't need to roll the dice with select stores and how they handle stock cataloging on their sites, I figured I would go back and review the one Beast Wars figure I personally own, before I eventually review Power of the Primes Optimal Optimus... and maybe one day that Masterpiece Primal if I can find one, that just looks great. Anyway, come and take a trip with me to the distant past of 1998, as we tackle a Transmetal gorilla.