Installing package open-vm-dkms, and letting it drag in open-vm-tools and replying yes to replace everything asked, instantly fixes the situation.
These commands now work:
modinfo vmhgfs
mount -t vmhgfs .host:/SharedVM /mnt/hgfs/SharedVM/ #(Previously gave Error: cannot mount filesystem: No such device).
I got the idea from: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-vm-tools/+bug/376639
To me, this means the most recent version of vmware tools is broken, at least in regards to Mint 14 32 bit with kernel 3.5.0-17-generic .
Now, if we could only fix Cinnamon for the same system...
-K