Consistencies with plot devices in the Gen1 cartoon was almost non-existent. The "bible" they put together was more for the characters (which was usually consistent), and some basic concepts.
The Constructicons' origin is one example of contradiction - they were noted as existing millions of years ago because they were shown to be building Megatron, but in a different episode they were shown to be turned into Decepticons by Megatron, while millions of years later they were built by Megatron on Earth.

The creation of characters on the cartoon was another element of contradiction, even after they introduced the Matrix. Some were scratch-built on Earth (or Unicron) and just come to life, and some were built on Cybertron and given life by Vector Sigma. There actually weren't too many characters brought to life in the cartoon... the majority just appear in an episode as if they were always around.

In the G1 cartoon Universe, can the Matrix grant life to new Transformers?
In the comic it was more of a Creation Matrix (later becoming the essence of Primus), while in the cartoon is was more of a Leadership Matrix (holding archived memories/wisdom of previous Primes).
So even though it didn't specifically say anywhere that it couldn't create life in the Cartoon, it's usage in the cartoon suggests it was more like a recording/depository device... so really it absorbed (wisdom), rather than "gave" (life).