I’ll bite.
- Tahu Mata
- Kopaka Mata
- Gali Mata
- Lewa Mata
- Onua Mata
- Pohatu Mata
Mandatory to keep the variety and iconography of Bionicle.
- Takanuva
Yes, even without the Nuva sets. This had to be compromise in order to keep the variety of G1 Bionicle in the series. Best case, I could say the Mata would also include an extra 3 parts or so to swap them into Nuva forms (an extra helmet piece, weapons and a castle armor piece).
- Makuta Teridax (2003)
- Ehlek
- Matoro Mahri
- Vakama Metru
- Thok
- Antroz
- Mata Nui (2009)
- Gresh
- Gahlok
Phew, this was interesting. Trying to cover the span of 9 years of Bionicle (since 2010 was Stars) in 16 figures. As a breakdown:
7/16 are based on 2001-2002 (~44%)
2/16 are based on 2003 (~12.5%)
1/16 is based on 2004 (~6.25%)
0/16 are based on 2005 (0%)
1/16 is based on 2006 (~6.25%)
2/16 are based on 2007 (~12.5%)
1/16 is based on 2008 (~6.25%)
2/16 are based on 2009 (~12.5%)
With only 16 entries, it would have been possible to have a hero and villain of each year represented, but not always recognizable and iconic for a Bionicle series. The Toa Mata were a sticking point, thinking if this were to exist, people would want the originals and all 6 of them at that. Adding Nuva pieces to them was a creative compromise, but I wouldn’t extend it to their adaptive armor Phantoka/Mistika teams because by that point, they would need new figures from the ground up, and with that many pieces it becomes less a CMF and more a polybag/small boxed set.
As for the rest of the years, I admittedly could’ve been more CMF tricky on who to pick. I’ve held the theory for a long time that CMFs are deceptively hard to tell on purpose, especially in numbered series where there’s more wiggle room, so that even by texture it’s not super obvious who you get. Famous example is Series 9 with 3 ladies with dress pieces and a fourth as a mermaid whose tail slope like the dresses. Other parts distinguish them, but you can’t help how strange that distribution is. In the case of Bionicle CMF, I could’ve done Gorast, Nuparu Inika and Ehlek all having claws on their hands. But as a lineup, it doesn’t represent Bionicle so well and I also wanted to balance the colors a little more beyond the 6 Toa Mata.
Makuta, Takanuva, Mata Nui and Matoro being very obvious choices for their story contributions. Presumably, Matoro could have an additional Mask of Life piece to wear himself, even without buying the Mata Nui figure. And Mata Nui could also have an additional color of his mask to represent 2008’s look. So that between those two you’d have a flat dark gold, pearl silver, and bright light yellow version of the Mask of Life. (I’m sorry I’m not good at drawing or I’d have diagrams to make better sense of my text). Takanuva meanwhile could have an additional mask to represent his Matoran form Takua, and Makuta could have the Takutanuva mask fusing them together, or the movie version of the Mask of Shadows.
Antroz was a fun choice to get wings into the series, unless I wanted to choose Hahli Mahri, just to have more variety of parts. He also seemed like the easiest makuta to translate to minifigure form.
Gresh was one of the most standout Glatorian in 2009, and makes a better representation for that year, even more than Mata Nui.
Thok in 2006 for the color difference, an appealing design and because memes 
Gahlok was a last minute inclusion, because I wanted to secure the variety of years first before the 16 limit was reached. When I went back, yes the Toa Nuva rep 2002 but the Bohrok stand out on their own, and IMO were some of the greatest toys that Bionicle produced. So it felt right adding one in, again keeping a different color. Plus their shorter stature can make for an interesting appearance as a minifigure.
Vakama Metru covers 2004 as many elements of the Metru Nui saga revolve around him. I couldn’t add pieces for him to be transformed into a Hordika however, because too much would have to change and would need another figure or, like the adaptive Toa, another set.
I mean, for 2005 I guess I could rep a titan like I did in 2003 with Teridax, but I don’t see many translating to minifigure form too well, and I didn’t wanna add Roodaka for fanservice. Can’t use the Visorak because spiders don’t work for minifigures, but maybe as an accessory.
Maniac4Bricks (Joey)
