"I'm so happy to have finally won this year."
The prize is return flights for two adults and two children to Legoland in Japan, along with five nights accommodation at the Legoland Japan Resort and, of course, four days admission to the great Legoland complex there ... not to mention $1000 spending money.
Matthew's mum Leanne said after the entries had closed off at the end of April the family waited for any news, but as it rolled into June heard nothing.
"Then last Wednesday there was a phone call and a man asked to speak to Matthew — I wondered who it might be so got up beside Matthew and listened in."
She heard that he had taken the regional championship and said her hopes it might have been the major one were, like Matthew's, a little dashed.
"Then I heard him say 'national winner' and I ended up running about like a headless chook."
Matthew said his response was a shouted "wow!"
"And I was jumping around."
There was also plenty of "wowing" going on at school when he told his classmates.
Matthew said he enjoyed the challenges of creating something different, and reckoned getting the remote control system for the jousting horses was the biggest hurdle.
It was something he wanted to take further, and visiting Legoland in Japan would further his inspirations.
"I want to be a Lego designer — design new Lego sets."
His mother said the house was pretty dominated by Lego now as they had bought him several sets and were intrigued that after he'd complete a kit he'd take it apart and then make something else from it.
"He is very creative and a real problem solver and thinks outside the square."
Toyworld Napier co-manager David Copestake said he was also thrilled to hear the news.
"We always wanted to have a national winner and now we've got one — Matthew has created something pretty special here and he's been rewarded for it."
It is a creation and a title Copestake is keen to share with other Lego enthusiasts, and the general public.
"We'll host it in our window during July for the public to have a closer look."
Which is something Matthew's mum is happy with.
"It's pretty special but he just wants to take it apart and build something else ... he's over it," she laughed.
The competition has been hosted for several years by Toyworld and Lego with entrants encouraged to build their dream creation.
For Matthew that meant creating a castle and grounds titled 'Bricklin Castle' as the very first Lego kit he was given when he was just 4 was a small castle.
"I thought it would be cool to see what kind of castle I could build."
It took him two months and Copestake said it was a standout which he reckoned could have cleaned up at any previous competition.
"He has motorised parts of it to have jousting horses, a flour mill and a water wheel — it is remarkable."
A spokesman for the judges said this year's competition was "easily the toughest to judge in the time he had been involved".
"The one thing that always hits me when I look at the over 3000 entries is just the level of joy, passion and commitment that every single child puts into their Lego build — very inspiring."
